Before the show
by Butterflied1990
Summary: Basically a story about Mel and Jim's relationship before the show starting from the night they met up to the wedding, slightly AU. Feel free to give it a read and let me know what you think. Mel/Jim fluff as usual.
1. Chapter 1 Unexpected encounter

Hey everyone I thought it would be interesting to write a story about the couple before the beginning of the show as they have given us snippets of information but not much. The storyline may be slightly AU but I hope you enjoy.

**I don't own ghost whisperer or any of the characters on the show**, but I really kind of wish that I did, just for a little while…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1 Unexpected encounter

Melinda Gordon sat in Village Java waiting for Andrea to arrive for their coffee date, it was a tradition they had kept since college. Every Friday they would meet at the coffee house and chat about anything and everything that was going on in their lives, but today Andrea was late.

"Can I take your order?" A tall woman asked Melinda.

"Not right now thanks, I'm waiting for someone." Melinda replied politely and smiled.

The waitress nodded and went on to find another customer that she could be of service too leaving Melinda to sit and wonder where her friend was.

After 20 minutes of waiting around Mel decided that she was going to order herself a coffee to go and call Andrea when she arrived home, plus she had a lot of things to sort out since the fire in her building last week.

Mel left Village Java and headed to her Jeep, unfortunately she was so busy searching for her car keys that she didn't notice the unsuspecting man she was about to spill hot coffee all over.

"Oh my God I am so sorry." Mel said as she bumped into the tall man.

"It's no problem, really." He replied, although it burned like hell he was always taught to be polite to women.

When Mel looked up she realised that she recognised the man, it was the extremely good looking fireman who had thrown her slipper at her after the fire in the apartment building. He had also broken her umbrella and taken her for a hot dog. She hadn't expected to bump into him again, especially not like this.

She was about to walk back to her car and die of embarrassment but he seemed to have purposely positioned himself in a place that made it almost impossible for Melinda to walk away.

"Hey its Mel isn't it, I don't know if you remember me from the other day." He said hoping that she would, he definitely hadn't forgotten her.

"Yeah, Jim right? How could I forget you threw my slipper at me and broke my umbrella, all in one night." She replied jokingly.

"Like I told you before I tossed your slipper at you I didn't throw it, and the umbrella thing was an accident." He answered quite seriously.

"Hey I'm only joking I really don't mind, and if I'm honest I think the umbrella was already broken. Anyway I should really be getting home now, still a lot of stuff to sort out and I have to call my friend." Mel said unintentionally giving Jim a flirty look.

"Well you could at least let me buy you another coffee, I did walk into it." He suggested and looked at the stain on his shirt.

"Jim it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was walking I was in a rush to get home and I swear my car keys and bag conspired against me because I couldn't find them anywhere." She replied rambling slightly. It was something she did when she was nervous, she was a compulsive rambler.

"Hey how about we agree that it was a combined effort of both your missing keys, and my general lack of spatial awareness that caused the spillage. Let me buy you a replacement drink." He asked flashing her his best smile.

Mel was a little apprehensive at first hot guys didn't generally offer to buy her coffee, and on the off chance they might she generally said no. This was because of that little secret that would undoubtedly rear its ugly head and ruin any good thing she had going.

"So what do you say?" Jim prompted pulling Melinda out of her deep thoughts.

"Sure, why not." She replied smiling shyly at the man in front of her.

_He did have the most amazing smile and he seemed like a really nice guy, but that wasn't important, he was simply replacing her spilt coffee, that was all. _She thought to herself but quickly took her head out of the clouds when she realised that Jim had already started walking toward the entrance to Village Java. Now she had to walk quicker than normal just to catch him up.

"Jim, wait a second you walk really fast." She called after him as the gap between them seemed to enlarge.

"Oh sorry I didn't realise you were so far behind." He replied slowing down enough so that Mel could catch him up.

_She has really beautiful eyes and there is just something intriguing about her, what did she mean the other day when she said she'd 'tell me someday'? It's just coffee, it's just coffee. _He thought to himself as she made her way over, if only they had been able to read each other's thoughts at that moment, it would have made things just that little bit easier.

Once they reached the shop Jim insisted that ladies should always go first and wouldn't budge until Mel had walked through the door that he was holding open. She was sure that if she had waited in the same position she could have outstayed Jim and achieved victory over the ladies first thing. However she decided that she would have to back down on this one, as she was receiving off putting glares from a man who was also waiting to buy his morning coffee.

"So what are you having then?" Jim enquired.

Melinda gave him a puzzled look, the only reason she was actually in village Java with him was for the replacement coffee, _and because he was insanely attractive, _but she wasn't going to let him know that she thought that.

"Hello, Mel did you want a coffee or something different?" He asked again, not realising that he had called her Mel instead of Melinda.

Melinda cleared her throat, "Erm could I just have a small coffee." She replied nervously. Not many people called her Mel, it made her kind of nervous coming from him, but she liked it.

"Alright then." He smiled and moved further toward the front of the queue.

Once he reached the front he ordered two drinks, a coffee for Melinda and a hot chocolate for himself.

"That's a woman's drink." Mel teased.

"It is not, besides it's what keeps me sweet." He replied cheekily.

Melinda couldn't help but laugh, something else she liked about him. Not only was he tall dark and handsome, he had a great sense of humour too.

"Jim seriously has that line ever worked for you?" Mel said laughing as she did.

Jim leaned in closer to Mel and lowered his tone slightly.

"I don't know is it working now?" He asked boyishly and yet he was serious enough to let Melinda know that he was definitely interested in her.

"Maybe." Melinda replied with a smile as Jim handed her a container of coffee.

"Oh God I really have to go, I need to call my friend she was supposed to meet me like an hour ago and I haven't heard from her, but here's my number." She smiled and began to scribble down her cell on a napkin.

Jim looked on as Melinda rushed to the door.

"Thanks for the coffee. Call me." She chirped as she left Village Java and headed to her car.

Jim just looked on feeling as though he had been hit by a truck and all the air had been squeezed out of his lungs; she had literally taken his breath away. He picked up his drink and placed the napkin with Melinda's number safely in his inside pocket.

One thing he knew for certain was that he would definitely be giving her a call, he couldn't get her out of his mind.

Meanwhile Melinda was in her flat and had managed to successfully call Andrea; it turned out she had been held up in a really important meeting and left her cell in her office. She hadn't told her friend about Jim yet because she really liked him and she didn't want to jinx anything. All she had to do now was wait for him to call... He was totally going to call, she hoped.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I wasn't going to post this until I had written a few chapters but I couldn't help myself. Hope you like the idea, please review and let me know what you think, more chapters posted soon. :-)


	2. Chapter 2 Midday phone call

OH MY GOSH 10 reviews already I actually can't believe it, thanks so much I really appreciate reviews. Hope you will enjoy this chapter then.

It's a bit of a fill in chapter but it's all about Jimmel!! The next chapter will be more interesting.

Chapter 2 Midday phone call

Melinda was sat at her desk in the office just waiting for the day to end so she could get away from the most boring place in the world. She had been working as a 'telecommunications adviser' for 2 years now and had hated it from the word go, but she only had to wait a week and she was home free.

She and Andrea were setting up a small antique business and so far everything was going to plan. They had the venue sorted, right in the middle of the square and they even had some stock coming in; all that she needed to do now was work the end of her notice.

She stared out of the window, the rain was pelting down so quickly that she could barley make out what was going on, she would have ended up in a full on daze had the ringing of her cell phone not startled her back to reality.

She pulled it out of her bag and glanced at the caller ID, _unknown number_ it read then she thought for a moment, _'Wait, it could be, it could be Jim.'_ And with that she flipped the phone and coolly spoke into the receiver.

"Hello." She started simply.

"_Hey Mel, it's Jim is this a bad time?"_ The voice on the other end of the phone asked sweetly.

"No, no it's actually perfect timing, work is slow today." She replied surprised at how excited she was to be having a conversation with this man, she felt like a teenager again.

"_Oh good, glad I could be of service."_ He joked.

Melinda giggled a little at him; he had that affect on her, always made her laugh.

"So aren't there many fires to put out today?" She asked audaciously hoping to make him smile too.

"_I have the morning off, really I'm a paramedic I just work at the firehouse some weekdays when I'm free." _He said trying not to sound too impressed with himself.

"Oh that's really great." She replied slightly in awe of him.

"_Look Mel, I was really calling to see if you wanted to go out sometime; like tonight maybe?" _He asked sounding surprisingly nervous.

"Sure where would we go?" She replied sweetly.

"_Now that would be telling but I will pick you up at 7." _He added playfully.

"Hmm I dunno, besides you don't know where I live." She replied teasingly.

"_I remember where you live from the fire." _Jim stated matter of factly.

"Well I'm staying at my friends whilst that house get's cleaned up; the address is 124 Fitzwilliam square." She replied.

"_So does that mean we have a date?" _He asked.

"I suppose it does." Melinda replied. If Jim could have seen her face he would have seen the biggest smile grace her lips.

The conversation ended shortly after Melinda had given him her apartment address and vague directions. She had tried to get him to tell her where they would be going but it turned out he was almost as stubborn as she was and wouldn't budge.

She was so excited now but really, really nervous. She hadn't been on a date with such a nice guy since, well since forever really. She needed help, she needed Andrea; and with that thought Melinda packed up her desk and left the building, paying no attention to the fact that she had technically just left work 3 hours early.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jim had gotten back from a night shift at the firehouse around 2am that morning and had only slept until 10am before getting up, taking a shower and then calling Melinda. He looked at the clock that was positioned above the television in the living room of his apartment; 10 to 1 was the time at present.

As he sat doing, well nothing he realised how tired he actually was from working, he really should have slept longer. He figured he could sleep until 5:30 then take a quick shower and get ready before driving to Mel's apartment. This way he would have enough time to find the place and still pick her up on time.

He pottered into his bedroom and made sure he set 4 different alarms before stripping down to his boxers and climbing into bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melinda arrived back at the apartment, closed the front door, and dropped her handbag on the floor.

"Andrea, Andrea are you home?" She called loudly as she removed her shoes and made her way through to the living area.

"Yeah I'm in the kitchen, what's up." She called back as she drained the pasta she had been cooking.

Melinda quickly walked to the kitchen and took at seat at the table before letting out a huge sigh.

"Wait, what's wrong, why are you home already and why do you have a weird look on your face; there isn't a ghost is there?" Andrea said asking several questions in about 5 seconds.

"No, no ghosts but I do need your help with something." Melinda replied and looked at her friend with pleading eyes.

"Wait Mel who is he, I can tell by that look in your eye." Andrea said, she knew Mel too well.

"You remember the fireman that I almost told about my gift?" She asked.

"Mmmhmmm." Andrea replied whilst taking a mouthful of pasta.

"Well I bumped into him again yesterday and he called me at work and asked me on a date tonight." Melinda gushed.

"Oh my gosh, what time is he picking you up?" She asked dropping her fork back into the bowl and fully concentration on Melinda now.

"7 but I have no idea where we are going so I don't know what to wear, I really like this guy but I don't want to look like I'm trying to hard." Mel spoke at such a speed that only Andrea would have been able to understand her.

"Okay well It's only 2:30 now so I'm gonna cook you up a quick snack because my guess is that you haven't had anything to eat today, then we will see about outfits but you will look fabulous whatever you wear." Andrea said rationally.

"Alright then." Mel replied.

There was a few moments silence and then Andrea turned to look at Melinda again.

"So what is he like, looks?"

"Gorgeous, dark hair, tall and the most amazing blue eyes." Mel said in adoration.

"Personality?" Andrea asked again.

"Well the three times I've spoke to him he's been sweet, caring, funny and a gentleman but he is stubborn." Melinda added.

"Like you then." Andrea joked and received mock evil eyes from Mel as she did.

The banter continued between the two women whilst they ate and then they went to pick out Melinda's outfit and get her prepared for tonight's date. All the while Jim slept.


	3. Chapter 3 The date

Sorry it has taken me like a week to update, I started lectures again, have been really busy handing assignments in and I had to update my other fic, please read and review.

Chapter 3 The date

It was 5 to 7 and the intercom in Andrea's apartment began to ring, instantly filling Melinda with nerves.

"Andrea I'm not ready could you stall." She called through to her friend who was just about to answer the call.

"I'll try my best but I'm gonna have to let him in, it's freezing outside." Andrea called back to Melinda.

She picked up the phone and spoke politely to Jim.

"Hello you're here for Melinda right?" Andrea asked, she loved to tease people.

"Yeah, this is the right place isn't it?" He asked staring down at the address on the piece of paper in his hand.

"Yeah, I'll buzz you in, she won't be a minute." Andrea replied then pressed the relevant button to allow Jim to come up the stairs.

Next she walked into the bedroom where Melinda was just finishing up her look by placing a small diamond stud in her ear.

She looked up at Andrea nervously. "Is he here, do I look alright?" Melinda asked.

"Melinda you looked beautiful and he should be up in a few seconds, I buzzed him in a while ago." Andrea replied smiling.

"Okay… okay." Melinda said taking a deep breath then the door bell rang.

"Oh my God, can you go let him in, I swear I'll just be a sec." Melinda pleaded.

"Fine, fine but don't be too long, you don't want to keep him waiting." Andrea teased.

Melinda mimed the words _thank you_ to Andrea then shut the door so that Jim wouldn't be able to see her, nervously psyching herself up when he walked in.

Andrea opened the door and saw a tall, handsome looking man standing outside it.

"You must be Jim." She said smiling.

He just nodded nervously and waited to be invited in, always the gentleman.

"Andrea, it's nice to meet you." She said gesturing for him to enter the room.

"Take a seat, I'll go see what Melinda is up to, I'm sure she's just about ready." Andrea said cheerfully.

"No problem." Jim replied. He knew how women were, they always took absolutely ages to get ready, although he really didn't think that Melinda needed to, in his eyes she was beautiful anyway.

Andrea closed the door to Melinda's room and looked at her intricately.

"What?" Melinda asked as she stood up from the dresser.

"_He's hot_, and he's waiting." Andrea said, half whispering, half speaking normally.

Melinda blushed slightly then took another deep breath.

"Okay, I better get going then." Melinda stated.

"Yup you better, by the way Mel you really do look gorgeous" Andrea replied, then the two women walked out of the room, Andrea first then Melinda following a few steps behind.

When Jim saw the door open he instantly got to his feet and turned to fully face the direction that his date was walking in. When he saw Melinda he almost fell right back onto the chair.

"Wow you look amazing." Jim said then placed a small peck on Melinda's cheek and Andrea couldn't help but give a girlish grin at this.

"You don't look to bad yourself." Melinda replied returning the complement whilst Andrea just looked on amused.

Melinda was wearing a buttercup yellow, strappy dress that stopped just before the knee. On the waist line there was black lacing that looked like a large belt. The dress was quite low cut but black lacing on the breast area meant that not too much was on display. The bottom of the dress fanned out slightly making it look summery rather than too formal, and Jim couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Once he had managed to pull his gaze away from the beautiful site in front of him Jim cleared his throat took Melinda by the hand.

"Are you ready to go then?" Jim asked sweetly.

"Sure, I just need to get my purse." She replied then briefly let go of his hand to retrieve her purse from the nearby table. Jim didn't protest although he had no intention of letting her pay for anything.

"Okay Andrea we're going now." Melinda said to her friend who seemed to be in her own little world.

"Oh sure, you kids have fun now, nice to meet you Jim." She answered.

"Nice to meet you to." He replied as they made their way toward the door.

"Bye Andrea." Melinda called as she closed the door to the apartment leaving her and Jim alone in the corridor.

"So you never told me where we're going." Melinda said playfully as they walked toward the elevator.

"I told you it's a surprise and it will remain that way until we get there." Jim teased.

Melinda let out a mock sigh of disappointment and then looked up at Jim, he was so much taller than her even with her heels on, she hadn't really noticed before.

"Jim am I dressed okay for wherever it is we're going?" Melinda asked as the elevator reached the bottom floor.

"Melinda like I said you look amazing, I bet you could have come out in a paper bag and still made it work and I'm pretty sure you're dressed fine for tonight's plan." Jim replied sweetly.

"Thanks Jim but really where are we going I hate surprises." She pleaded.

"No you don't no one hates surprises and if I tell you it won't work as well." Jim stated matter of factly. He had no intention on ruining his perfectly planned evening by letting Melinda know what he was doing, no matter how tempted he was when she looked at him with those beautiful eyes.

Melinda and Jim were now sat in his car, it was a small, silver convertible and it looked pretty new. The interior was all black leather and in pristine condition, Jim was definitely a man who loved his car.

They both buckle up and then Jim started the engine and began driving down the road toward their destination whilst Melinda admired the vehicle some more.

"You have a nice car." She simply stated feeling slightly embarrassed after she realised how pathetic she sounded, hell she didn't have a clue about cars.

"Oh thanks, I just got it a few weeks ago, been saving since I got out of college." He replied smiling.

Jim noticed that Mel looked a little awkward and instantly felt bad, he found it difficult to concentrate on driving and talk at the same time so he leant foreword and put the radio on.

"Pick a station, I don't mind which one you put on." He smiled sweetly.

Melinda smiled back and then started to mess with the buttons on the stereo until she found a song that she liked and instinctively began to hum along quietly.

"We'll be there in about 10 minutes." Jim said whilst they were stopped at a traffic light.

Melinda nodded and continued to sing along to the song that was playing on the radio, her voice getting louder as if she had forgotten Jim was there.

"_It used to be easy then to dream, it's getting harder and harder to believe in anything…… Cause nothing holding the stars up in the sky, no reason or rhyme to this life." _Melinda stopped as she noticed Jim was glancing in her direction and smiling.

Her cheeks instantly grew red; she wanted the car to swallow her up there and then.

"Hey Mel don't stop you're really good." Jim said when he noticed her embarrassment.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better Jim I know I suck." She replied still a little embarrassed.

"No seriously Mel you're really good." Jim added again.

"Well thanks but I don't think I'll give up my day job just yet." Mel replied sweetly.

The rest of the journey was pretty quiet as far as Jim was concerned, he was concentrating on the road ahead and Melinda looked as if she was lost in her own thoughts.

Really she had seen a glimpse of some form of spirit and almost died of shock but she was determined to ignore the thing, at least until after the date because she really didn't want anything to mess this day up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eventually they arrived at a really small tavern restaurant, it was dark outside but the tavern had a warm glow due to the beautiful lighting that surrounded it. Jim walked around to Melinda's side of the car, opened the door and held his hand out for her to take _'a true gentleman' _Melinda thought to herself.

Jim and Melinda walked hand in hand toward the entrance to the tavern where they were greeted by a young woman with a huge smile on her face.

"A table for two I presume." The young woman chirped.

Jim didn't reply, he pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to the tall blonde whilst Melinda looked on confused.

The employee read the piece of paper and then looked back up at the couple with a glint in her eye.

"Right this way." She said; her face full of happiness.

They were shown to a small table at the back of the restaurant that seemed to be more private than the rest of the place. On the table was a small vase containing a single red rose, at either side of the vase was a small candle that flickered with the air. What Melinda didn't know was that Jim had arranged for them to be seated with the most incredible view.

At the moment the curtains were drawn but outside was a grassy hill and in the distance you could almost see the entire town of Grandview all lit up in the night. Jim had seen it just once before and it had been amazing. He couldn't wait to take Melinda outside and show it to her too.

Jim pulled out a chair for Melinda and then went around to his side to take a seat opposite her.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" The woman who had taken them to the table asked.

Jim looked at Melinda giving her a _do you want anything_ look.

"Erm.. I'm not sure." Mel replied, she really hadn't thought about this part of the date.

"How about I order us a bottle of the house wine, I've heard it's fantastic." Jim replied then smiled at the waitress.

Melinda nodded and the woman scribbled down the order on her notepad.

"I'll be back shortly with the wine and menus." She replied then pottered off in the direction of the kitchen.

"So do you like the restaurant?" Jim asked sweetly, he was a little nervous.

"Yeah it's beautiful and really cosy." Melinda replied.

"So have you been here before?" Melinda asked sweetly.

"Just the once for my parent's anniversary, they wanted to take the whole family for some strange reason." Jim replied with humour causing Melinda to laugh a little.

"Yeah it wasn't the best idea me and my brother spent the whole night arguing about who had the best seat and then ended up having a mash potato tower contest, but mine fell so I threw it at him. Mom and dad weren't too impressed." Jim added feeling the need to elaborate on the story.

Melinda couldn't help but laugh, she had such a distinctive laugh too and she really hoped that she wouldn't attract too much attention.

"That is so funny, I can just imagine a miniature version of you having a full on tantrum and throwing mash at some poor, unsuspecting guy." Melinda said, still laughing.

Jim started to chuckle a little too then looked back up at Mel, their eyes meeting the way they had the first time they had looked at each other, filling them both with warmth and well, love.

"You know you have a really great laugh." Jim said randomly.

"Thanks… I think." Mel replied sweetly.

"Don't mention it." Jim chirped.

The waitress was soon back with the menus and the couple ordered their food and ate their meals. Desert was skipped as he didn't want to ruin the rest of his plans so he tried the _'I actually may explode if I eat anything else'_ line, which seemed to work.

Jim paid for the meal and the wine with much protest from Melinda, she claimed that she _'Felt bad' _that she hadn't done her bit but Jim wouldn't take her money, he was the one taking her out.

Eventually they were ready to leave the restaurant so Jim walked around to where Melinda was still sat and took her cardigan off of the back of her chair. He held it up so she could slip her arms inside and then linked arms with her.

"You know I've had a really great time." Mel said as the exited the front of the tavern.

"Me too but there is just one more thing I want to show you." Jim replied smiling.

"What; where are we going?" Melinda asked confused and intrigued.

"You need to put on this blindfold." Jim added sweetly.

"Why?" Melinda asked even more confused.

"Do you trust me?" Jim asked.

"Strangely yes, yes I do." Mel replied.

Jim held up the blindfold and then said, "Let me put this on you."

"Okay." Mel replied then turned away from Jim so he could tie the blindfold on.

He took care when he did this and then placed his hands on her shoulders so her could guide her to their destination.

Jim carefully led Melinda around the back of the tavern onto a grassy hill, there was already a blanket set out near the edge of the hill with a basket of strawberries and cream at the side.

He took Mel to the blanket then asked her to sit down before sitting himself beside her.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?" She asked questioningly.

"Of course you can." Jim replied.

Melinda slid the blindfold over her head and was amazed by what she saw, the view was phenomenal, it was absolutely breathtaking.

"Jim oh my gosh." Mel choked as she looked down on the view in front of her.

"I thought you might appreciate this." Jim replied.

"It's beautiful." Mel replied sensually then turned to face Jim.

There eyes met for the second time that evening but this time they both grew closer to each other. Melinda could feel Jim's breath on her face and then suddenly, as if she had just blinked, they were kissing.

The kiss lasted for several moments until Jim gently pulled away, their faces still almost touching. He searched Melinda's eyes for any sign of regret but was only met by a look of compassion and he realised just how much he felt for this girl. He was falling, he was falling fast.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A nice long one for you there because I took ages, really sorry about that. Please, please, please review if you have the time, ideas are also welcome. Thanks very much for taking the time to read.


	4. Chapter 4 Girly chats and baseball caps

Heya guys sorry it has been a few days since I last updated but I think this is quicker than the last one ;-) Basically I had to write a really important chapter for my other story because it had been over a week….. Hope you enjoy this update.

Chapter 4 Girly chats and baseball caps

It was the morning after the date and Melinda woke up in an extremely good mood. She didn't have a clue what time Jim had driven her home from the restaurant or how long she had spent with him outside the apartment door, all she knew was that she had such a great time and couldn't wait to see Jim again.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was only 8:30 but even though she didn't have to work Mel felt as though she wanted to get up and do something with her day. Pulling back the covers Melinda jumped out of bed and swung open the curtains allowing the soft glow of the morning sunlight illuminate her room.

She put the radio on quietly in an attempt to keep Andrea from waking up and began sifting through her wardrobe to find an outfit that felt right for the day. As she continued to mix and match an array of different items a song came on the radio that reminded her of the date last night. It was 'You and I' the song she had been singing last night in the car. This caused Melinda to smile as she began to sing along quietly.

Eventually Mel had found an outfit that she felt was appropriate and was just about to go and take a shower when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in." Melinda called she knew that it would be Andrea wondering why she was up at this time.

The door slowly opened and just as expected Andrea stood sleepily in the doorway holding two mugs of coffee.

"Mel, why?" was all Andrea could say as she slowly plodded into Melinda's room, handed her one of the mugs of coffee she had prepared and sat in the middle of the bed.

"Why what?" Melinda asked cheekily.

"It's 9:00am and you're dancing around the spare room like a figure skater at the ice rink." Andrea replied a smile starting to grace her cheeks as Melinda sang loudly in her face.

"I'm just happy that's all." Mel replied as she joined Andrea on the bed.

The two women took a sip of their coffee then Andrea cleared her throat to speak.

"So Jim huh, tell me about the date, it must have been good if you are this happy." Andrea pried; her tired exterior fading as she became interested in the current topic of conversation.

"_Well_ it was amazing, Jim is the most wonderful guy I have ever dated and we have only been on one proper date." Melinda gushed a smile plastered across her face as she spoke.

"Well where did you go? What did you do? Did he have any weird habits? Spill." Andrea questioned excitedly.

"Okay calm down with all the questions." Mel giggled.

"We went to a small tavern restaurant that Jim had been to before one time, he had already booked a table and there was a single red rose waiting for me when we sat down." Melinda paused to take another sip of her drink and allow Andrea to make any comments that she felt necessary before proceeding.

"We skipped desert and I thought we were going to go home but instead he put a blindfold on me and led me to the back of the tavern." Mel was about to continue when Andrea interrupted.

"What you let him blindfold you, seriously Mel he could have been some crazy axe murderer." Andrea exclaimed.

"Well he wasn't and I know it sounds stupid but I really trust him." Mel gushed again, just the thought of Jim bringing another wide smile to her face.

"Okay sorry, so why did he take you there?" Andrea asked; she wanted to know more now.

"He'd set out a picnic basket with strawberries and cream and the view, Andrea you should have seen it, it was breathtaking you could see almost the whole of Grandview illuminated below and all the stars above." Melinda said looking as if she were back there now.

"Wow." Andrea replied, she didn't really know what else to say because from the look on her friends face it had been some date.

There was another lull in the conversation then Andrea looked at Melinda with a girlish grin.

"Oh no what now?" Melinda asked knowing that some random question was going to come her way.

"So.. did you kiss him?" Andrea asked like a teenage girl would one of her friends.

Melinda didn't answer she just blushed.

"Well obviously you did so is he a good kisser?" Andrea asked, she wasn't going to let this one go.

"Andrea enough with the 20 questions, all you need to know is that Jim is a really great guy, I never kiss and tell." Melinda replied but then nodded to Andrea letting her know that he was in fact a good kisser.

"You know this is so not fair, you get a tall, handsome fireman/paramedic who happens to be a hopeless romantic and I'm stuck with no one." Andrea replied faking a sad face.

"Aww well you have me." Melinda smiled.

"Yeah, yeah but because you're so lucky in love I'm getting in the shower first." Andrea said and quickly dashed for the door.

Melinda ran screaming after Andrea but it was too late, the bathroom door was locked and Melinda had no option but to admit defeat.

"That is so not fair but I am willing to let that sneaky trick pass, just this once but don't take too long I wanted to go for a walk." Melinda called through the bathroom door.

"Oh no I'm gonna take my time, I know that 'go for a walk' is code for accidentally bump into Jim." Andrea teased.

"No it isn't, just shower okay." Mel called back through the door.

"Fine, fine keep your panties on." Andrea joked as she turned the shower on, she left the water a few minutes to get warm before stepping in.

Meanwhile Melinda sat on her window ledge staring out at nothing in particular when she was startled by the ringing of her phone. She looked at the caller id and there on the screen were 3 letters JIM.

"Oh my God…. Oh my God." Melinda said as the phone continued to ring in her hand. She took a deep breath and then flipped the top to answer.

"Hello." She said coolly.

"_Hey Mel it's Jim, I had a really great time last night."_

"Me too." Mel replied sweetly.

"_I was wondering if you were free this afternoon, at like 1ish to meet in the square, I have a half hour lunch break and thought we could grab a coffee." _Jim asked, he sounded extremely nervous.

Melinda consulted the clock on her bedside table. 11am, that meant she had 1:30 minutes to take a shower and get ready if she wanted to have enough time to drive into the square and find parking.

"Yeah alright where do you want to meet?" Mel asked sweetly.

"_Erm.. you know the bench right in the middle of the square, the one that's between your future store and the firehouse." _Jim asked.

"Yeah I know the place." Mel replied.

"_There would be good." _

"Alright then I'll see you at 1." Melinda added.

"_Yeah, you will." _Jim replied charmingly.

They both said bye then Melinda ran straight toward the bathroom door and began hammering on it.

"Andrea, Andrea you need to get out the shower now, Jim just called and he wants to meet at 1." Mel rambled desperately through the door.

"What I can't hear you." Andrea replied teasing her friend, she was already out of the shower and had just left the water running.

"Seriously I need you to…." Melinda was cut off from finishing her sentence as the door opened and Melinda nearly fell into the bathroom.

"It's all yours but make sure he doesn't blind fold you this time." Andrea joked.

"Funny.." Mel replied then grabbed her clothes and went to take a shower.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Soon it was 10 to 1 and Mel had managed to get into the square early so she was jut sat on the bench waiting for Jim to grace her with his presence.

It was surprisingly cold out for such a sunny day not a cloud in the sky but still Mel felt a chill and wrapped her arms around herself to conserve heat.

As she trailed off into her own little world she didn't seem to notice that Jim had arrived and taken a seat next to her on the bench sporting a rather comical looking baseball cap. It wasn't until he tapped her on her shoulder that she noticed she was no longer alone.

"Oh god, you startled me." Mel said as Jim tapped her shoulder.

"Sorry." Jim replied chuckling a little.

"What are you laughing at _me_." Mel joked.

"Me, no I would never do that." He replied then leant toward her and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Good because that baseball cap you're wearing is pretty hilarious."

Jim had totally forgotten he was wearing it and got a little embarrassed.

"Hey I love this cap." He replied with mock sadness.

"Oh sorry did I offend you." Mel joked.

"No, no it takes a special kind of guy to pull a hat of this quality off." Jim said keeping with the joke.

"It sure does." Mel laughed.

Jim took the hat off and playfully attempted to put it onto Melinda's head but she wasn't going without a fight. During the commotion their eyes met again, Melinda stopped squealing, Jim stopped laughing and he leant in for a kiss. This was just as magical as the first.

Every time she kissed him she felt something the whole way through her body, it was like every single kiss was her first kiss all over again and the way he looked at her, she realised that she had never really been looked at by any guy until now.

The sat apart for a while just gazing into each others eyes when Melinda shivered again and brought her hands back around her waist. This didn't go unnoticed by Jim.

"Hey Mel you're cold aren't you." He stated as he began to take his paramedic jacket off.

"No I'm fine." Mel replied, she didn't want him to freeze on her account.

"No you're not I see you shivering, take this." He said sweetly as he placed the jacket around her shoulder and moved her closer to him.

"Thanks." She replied and smiled at him.

He had never felt this way about anyone before, it was ridiculous, he had known her like 2 weeks and only been on one proper date and yet he felt like he had known her all his life, he felt like he could be anything he wanted to be around her.

Time passed by so quickly and before they knew it Jim had to head back to work but he promised to call Melinda as soon as he finished.

Mel returned his jacket and made her way back to her red Jeep. Jim not taking his eyes off of her until she disappeared around the corner.

She sat there with her head in the clouds until a strange presence jerked her back to reality.

"My brother likes you a lot."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it done. Please review and any ideas or constructive criticisms are welcome as usual…


	5. Chapter 5 Shell shocked

**Note:** To all the readers of my other story 'As black as night' I am working on an update and it will be posted shortly it's just this happened to come to me first.

Hey guys thanks for all the great reviews, there were so many of you I can't mention all the names but I just want to let you know that they are all really appreciated. The story is about to get a little more interesting now so I hope you will all enjoy and continue to read on.

Chapter 5 Shell shocked

Melina just stared at the young man sat in the front seat of her car with the blankest expression she had ever used.

"Excuse me?" She said completely confused.

"I said my brother really likes you." The ghost simply repeated like it was no big deal.

"W..what you mean Jim.. Jim is your brother?" Melinda asked shell shocked.

"Yeah, great guy isn't he." Dan said proudly.

"He is but I don't get it, why are you here and why haven't I seen you before?" Melinda asked trying to get some more information on the situation that was beginning to unfold.

"What do you mean, I have been watching over Jim since I died, I want to see him happy." Dan replied sweetly, he really cared for his brother and wanted to watch over Jim like he had done for him in his last moments.

Melinda paused for a moment to take in everything before speaking again.

"He hadn't mentioned you to me." Mel said quietly.

"Yeah he tends not to, not straight away, my death was pretty emotional for him." Dan replied.

"Oh, is there anything I can do to help you?" Melinda asked, she knew that telling Jim about this situation was going to be difficult but she had to do it, she had to help the ghost if he needed her help.

"Not yet, just keep making Jim smile, I'll cash in my favour later." Dan gushed at Melinda.

"Okay, I will do that…." Mel paused and gestured to him for his name.

"Dan, my name is Dan but I'm sure Jim will mention me to you soon, just bring up family, he trusts you already I can see it in his eyes." Dan replied.

"Before you go wherever it is spirits disappear to I have a question." Mel stated.

"What is it?" Dan asked enquiringly.

"If I tell Jim, if I tell him that I can see spirits, that I've seen you will he take it well, I've been hurt by this gift all my life and I don't think I can take it again." Mel said sadly.

"I think that if my brother likes you as much as I think he does you have nothing to worry about, he's always wanted to believe in something." Dan added sweetly.

"Thanks." Mel replied then Dan just disappeared into thin air leaving Melinda to ponder the events that had just taken place. She needed to compose herself, drive home and play the whole thing out with Andrea. She'll know what to do, she has to.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melinda slammed the door to Andrea's apartment and threw her bag down on the sofa in the living room.

"Andrea, where are you?" She called loudly so that Andrea would hear her if she was in the building.

"I'm in the kitchen, what's up?" Andrea asked as she chopped a stick of celery into small pieces.

Mel walked into the kitchen and took a seat on one of the stools, she rested her elbow on the counter and leant her head on her arm.

"Oh no what happened, did he stand you up?" Andrea asked sympathetically.

Melinda shook her head, "No, no he's great , it wasn't him." She said quietly.

"Well then what happened?" Andrea asked a little confused.

"I.. I saw his brothers ghost.." Mel replied in a hushed tone.

"Oh." Was all Andrea could say at this point she needed a few moments to let the information sink in.

"What should I do, if I tell him he might… I might lose him and I can't lose him I only just found him." Mel said sadly of slight hint tears glistening in her eyes,

"What did his brother say?" Andrea asked she needed more information.

"Not much really, just how much Jim liked me and that he wanted me to keep making his brother happy. I didn't even know Jim had a brother, let alone that his brother died." Mel replied her eyes facing down at the counter.

"Well did he say he wanted to speak to Jim?" Andrea asked, her voice showing compassion.

"No, he said he would call in a favour later." Mel replied.

"Okay so that means you don't have to tell him right away, get to know him better, tell him about your family learn about his. If you like him as much as you say you do and trust him as much as I think you do already, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about." Andrea said wisely.

Mel looked up at her friend with mixed emotions, she didn't know why she had been blessed with such a good friend in her life but she was glad that she had.

"Thanks Andrea, I really don't know what I would do without you." Mel said sweetly.

"You'd get by Mel, you always do." Andrea replied and walked over to give Melinda a supportive hug.

"Now have you eaten anything today, you rushed off so fast to see your beloved Jim that you can't have had chance to eat anything." Andrea said.

"No I don't think I did eat." Mel replied trying to remember when the last time she ate was.

"Okay then, you go and watch T.V. and I'll fix you something up before I head to work." Andrea said caringly.

"Thanks. You know you work some really strange hours." Mel added.

"I know honey but that's life, in a couple of months when we get the shop going it will all be worth it though." Andrea replied.

Melinda smiled at Andrea then, as instructed she went to relax in front of the television, something she rarely did anymore.

10 minutes passed and she was so wrapped up in some random soap opera that she didn't even notice that Andrea had walked into the room and placed a plate of food on the table next to her.

"Eh- hmm." Andrea coughed as if she were clearing her throat in order to get Mel's attention.

Melinda immediately snapped out of her daze and looked up.

"Sorry I didn't see you come in." Mel exclaimed.

"Yeah obviously, this garbage can't really be that entertaining can it?" Andrea asked.

"Oh my gosh I don't know why but it really is." Melinda replied struggling to keep her attention fixed on Andrea rather than the television.

"Okay, well your food is on the side Next to you." Andrea added then took a seat in the arm chair next to the sofa.

"Oh thanks Andrea." Mel replied then the two women ate their food and continued to watch the T.V. until Andrea had to leave for work.

At least 2 hours must have passed, Andrea had left for work leaving Melinda now glued to the television set screaming at the characters on the show.

"Oh no, no he's cheating on you don't go back to him." Melinda cried at one of the female characters.

Then the show ended leaving Melinda disappointed that she was going to have to wait a whole week to see the outcome, hell she probably wouldn't ever get to see it with her crazy lifestyle.

Melinda looked up at the clock, 4:15.

"God I can't believe I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching that." She said aloud to herself as she walked into the kitchen carrying her empty plate.

The dishwasher had already been turned on so Mel washed the plate by hand then returned to the living room. She began to stare blankly at the ceiling thinking about Jim and as if he had read her mind her phone started to ring, when she saw his name on the screen her heart skipped a beat as it always did.

"Hey." Mel said sweetly.

"_Hi Mel." _

"You finish work?" Mel asked, she didn't know what else to say, all she could think about was Dan.

"_Yeah, I was thinking I could come by and pick you up may be cook you dinner at my place." _Jim asked, he had his fingers crossed in anticipation just like a teenager would do.

"Sure that sounds really great. What time?" Mel replied trying not to come across overly eager.

"_Well I need to take a shower so about 6:30 if that's ok." _He said.

"Yeah that sounds fine, really good." Mel said smiling to herself.

"_Good, I'll pick you up at half 6 then, and don't worry I still have your directions." _

"How did you know I as gonna ask that?" She replied sweetly.

"_Because Melinda Gordon, I know you better than you think I do." _He replied cheekily.

"Obviously. I better let you shower or I'll never get to see you." Mel replied.

"_Hmm I suppose I better go but I will see you soon." _Jim added.

"Bye." Mel said passionately.

"_Bye Mel, Lo… see you soon." _Jim replied, he almost told her he loved her, just like that.

He had never fallen for a girl as fast as this, ever but Mel was different. She was amazing, beautiful, smart, funny and mysterious. He knew that there was something she was hiding behind those captivating hazel eyes but that intrigued him even more, he was definitely in love with Melinda Gordon and tonight, tonight he just might tell her how he felt.

Melinda put the phone back on the table and paused a minute to catch her breath, had he almost said what she thought he had said? She wasn't sure but she really wished he had said it. She wanted so badly to tell him how she really felt, to tell him that she loved him but she couldn't be the one to say it first, she couldn't give her heart away so easily not after what happened so many times before. If she was going to fully open her heart to Jim she had to tell him about her gift, she had to know that he could love all of her, and that she could trust him with her most intimate secret before she let things get more serious. Tonight was the night, tonight was the night she was going to tell Jim about what she could do and about his brother. It was crunch time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review and I will try to update soon so you aren't waiting to long for the next chapter as it is pretty important. Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6 Brace yourself

Thanks for reading so far I got an amazing response for the last chapter and tried to update as soon as I could but I did have a chapter for my other story to type up last night too and a presentation to do for University. Enjoy!

Chapter 6 Brace yourself

Melinda anxiously awaited the arrival of Jim by pacing up and down the floor of the apartment. Andrea was still out at work so Melinda had written her a note and left in on top of the television; Andrea would definitely see it there. She was in her own little world pacing around that the ringing of the intercom almost caused her to trip over her own feet but she managed to save herself.

She walked over to the phone on the side and picked it up.

"Hey it's Jim." He said nervously.

"Alright I'll be down in just a second just wait there or in your car if you get cold." Mel replied feeling a little awkward.

Jim stood by the door of the apartment waiting for Melinda to come down the stairs, he had parked just a little down the road and wasn't prepared to let Melinda walk alone to the car, the streets were dangerous for a woman at night so even though he was freezing he stood and waited like a true gentleman.

As the minutes passed by Jim felt himself getting more and more nervous, he was just about to call her again when she walked down the stairs sporting a huge smile.

"Hey." He said sweetly.

"Hey." She replied.

He noticed that she wasn't wearing a jacket so he took off his and placed it around her shoulders before taking her hand and walking her to his car.

"It's such a beautiful night, you can see all the stars." Mel said as she glanced up at the crisp night sky.

"Yeah." Jim stopped and looked up.

"See that over there, that's Ursa Major or the big dipper as it's more commonly known." Jim said as he pointed up at a cluster of stars.

"I don't see it." Mel replied.

"Here look." Jim took Melinda's hand in this and traced the outline of the constellation so that she could see where he was pointing.

"Do you see it now?" Jim asked as he glanced down at Melinda, his blue eyes glistening in the darkness.

Melinda just nodded she was too captivated to speak, the pair of them were so lost in each others eyes that it felt like there was no one else around, that they were the only ones living or breathing at that moment.

Jim slowly leant down and kissed Melinda, what started out as a soft, sensual kiss turned into a passionate embrace and only when the beams of a passing car headlight shone on them, did they break apart.

There was a few moments silence then Melinda shivered slightly.

"Hey let's get you to the car, it is freezing." Jim said then pulled Melinda closer to him as they walked the few steps to his vehicle.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The journey to Jim's apartment could only be described as bliss, Melinda listened to the radio and sang along to the songs that played, Jim even joined in on a few although his singing left much to be desired, it was so calm that they both forgot about the huge promises they had made to themselves earlier on that day. It wasn't until they pulled up outside the apartment building that the nerves started to kick in on both their parts.

Jim led Melinda up the stairs to his 3rd floor apartment, unlocked the door and held it open so Melinda could step in first, with him extremely closely behind.

"Take a seat." He said gesturing to the grey sofa at the far end of the room.

Melinda smiled, walked over to the sofa and slowly lowered herself onto it, careful not to sit on her skirt in an awkward position.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Jim called from the kitchen.

"No I'm good." Mel replied.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said sweetly.

"Okay but if you get thirsty then give me a shout I'll start dinner in about half an hour." He replied as he came back through into the main room holding a single bottle of beer. It was the only bottle he was going to have if he was going to be able to drive Melinda home safely.

Jim took a seat next to Melinda and placed his beer bottle on the black coffee table in front of them, he leant back and slowly put his arm around Melinda as a young boy would at the cinema.

Melinda looked at him with a smile, it was a smile that was hiding her anxiety and longing for the man in front of her. Jim though could already read her like a book and he knew that something was off.

"Mel what's up?" He asked as he took one of her hands in his.

Melinda sighed, she had to tell him, she couldn't back out now it wouldn't be fair.

"Jim look there is something I have to tell you but I don't know how you're going to take it." She said nervously avoiding his enchanting blue gaze.

"You're not married are you?" Jim joked, he hated tense situations and wanted to lighten the mood, make Melinda feel more at east.

"No, no I'm not married…" Melinda replied her eyes still fixed on the same spot on the floor.

"Well that's good it can't be worse than that." Jim said sweetly.

"Look Jim if I tell you I need you to promise me that you will still take me home, that you wont just leave me on your doorstep trying to find my own way home." Mel said tears now pricking the backs of her eyes waiting to edge their way out.

"Mel I would never leave you, I couldn't no matter what." Jim replied then pulled her closer into his embrace.

Melinda pulled away and then finally plucked up the courage to look him directly in the eyes.

"Jim I see ghosts, spirits of people that have died but haven't crossed over and I saw Dan, your brother." Mel said quickly then looked down at the floor, she couldn't look at him, she couldn't face seeing another person she loved look at her the way that Kyle had done back in college or the way her mother did every time she saw her.

Jim didn't say anything for quite some time but he never let go of her hand or stopped looking at her.

"Jim please say something, anything." She pleaded; the tears that had been held in the back of her eyes fighting their way out and falling in streaks down her face.

"Mel I believe you." He said slowly.

Melinda heard his words but they didn't sink in, she just didn't believe that Jim could be so great, she didn't believe that anyone could be this accepting of her so called gift so she stood up and started to walk for the door.

"Mel stop, I never told you about my brother you couldn't know that he died. I believe you Melinda, I love you." Jim said his voice starting to crack with raw emotion.

Melinda stopped in her tracks and slowly lowered herself onto the floor, tears streaming down her face. Jim walked over to her cautiously and leant down to her level.

"You really believe me." She choked as she tried to hold back the tears.

"Of course I do, it explains so much." Jim replied as he took her hand and helped her off the floor.

They made their way back to the sofa and sat as close as they possibly could to each other.

"I love you too Jim." Melinda said, her voice barley above a whisper as she hiccupped from the from the tears.

Jim cradled her in his arms until she her tears were just the occasional sniffle then he began to speak.

"So what did my brother say to you?" Jim asked feeling a little weird.

"He told me that you were there when he died. That must have been hard for you." Mel said lovingly.

"It was. You know I've never talked about this with anyone before Mel." He replied quietly.

The couple talked about their families for a while, Jim explained how he had been there in his brothers last moments, how he had watched his brother die and Melinda told Jim about her unsupportive mother and absent father. All the while Dan watched from the shadows with a huge smile on his face, happy that his brother had finally found someone that was worthy of his love.

"I better get dinner started you must be starving." Jim said noticing that the clock showed it was 9:15.

"Yeah I'm a little hungry, is there anything you want me to do?" Melinda asked not wanting to be a burden.

"Yeah you can sit and relax whilst I cook us a romantic dinner even if it is 2 hours later than expected." Jim replied sweetly.

"Alright then but I'm going to sit in the kitchen with you so if you need my help I can be of service." Melinda said with humour.

Jim allowed Melinda to follow him into the kitchen and then began to get ingredients out of the cupboard then some other items out of the fridge.

"You like Pizza?" Jim asked.

"Yeah of course." Mel replied with a huge smile she had never met a man who could make pizza from scratch.

"Okay good, you ever made it from scratch before?" He asked again as he set out the appropriate items to make the doe for the base.

"Nope if I'm honest I can't cook much." Mel replied shyly.

"Well then I will just have to teach you wont I." Jim teased then ushered her over to where he was standing.

"Okay can you pass me the flower that's right next to you?" Jim asked as he gestured toward a bag of flour on the counter.

Mel picked up the bag but as she stepped to pass it to Jim she tripped a little and flour poofed up onto her face causing Jim to burst out laughing.

"Hey you think that's funny do you?" Mel said as she attempted to brush the flour off her face.

"A little." He replied boyishly.

"Oh really." Mel said then she playfully flicked flour at Jim.

The pair continued like this for a few minutes, laughing and playing like a couple of children baking until they were warn out.

Jim brought Melinda close to him and kissed her tenderly but they both started to laugh when they realised that they could only taste flour. Eventually they mixed the doe, made the bases for the pizza and then started to prepare the toppings.

"Aren't you having anything other than cheese on yours Jim?" Melinda asked when she noticed that Jim's Pizza was completely bare.

"No I like my au natural." Jim replied playfully.

"Okay but you really should try it with toppings." Mel said as she attempted to violate his pizza with mushrooms and peppers.

"Hey you leave my pizza alone, if you wanna turn yours into frankenpizza then go ahead but mine wants to stay normal." He said as he playfully pushed her hands away from his base.

"You have some serious pizza issues Jim Clancy." Melinda replied as she finished putting her last piece of ham on the pizza.

"So do you." He replied as he kissed her again.

They then put the pizzas in the oven and set the timer so they could go into the living room and curl up on the sofa.

"I can't believe it's already 10:00pm." Melinda said as she looked at her watch.

"I know, God I should have cooked dinner before you got here, what sort of a boyfriend am I making you wait until 10 to eat" Jim said genuinely disappointed in himself.

"Hey it's not your fault, I distracted you more than once this evening and told you something that is definitely a huge deal for most people." Mel replied and pecked him on the cheek.

"I suppose you're right, you don't need to be home early do you I was thinking we could watch a movie whilst we ate." Jim said sweetly.

"No I don't have to go home until you're ready to take me." Mel smiled.

They both rifled through movies and had finally chosen one just in time for the oven timer to beep signalling that their food was ready.

"Oooo Pizza time." Mel said as she jumped off the sofa.

"Race ya." She called then ran the short distance to the kitchen, she would have got their first had Jim not run up and grabbed her from behind.

Jim took the pizzas out of the oven and placed them on plates, they took them through to the living room and sat and watched a movie together until 1:30am.

"I think it's time I got you home." Jim said noticing the tired look in Mel's eyes.

Melinda nodded, she was completely exhausted and she knew that Jim was working tomorrow at 1 so he needed to rest too.

"Okay then lets go." He said as he led Melinda out of the apartment and to the car.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Andrea heard a car pull up outside and poked her head out of the curtains to see what was going on. When she saw that it was Jim dropping Mel off she couldn't help but stare longer.

"I had a really great time tonight Jim." Mel said as she looked deeply into his eyes.

"Yeah me too." Jim replied as they started to walk inside, Jim never let Melinda walk up to the apartment alone at night, there were some dodgy people about.

They arrived outside the front door and Andrea had now moved into the living room to see if she could hear what was going on, she was so nosey.

"Well good night then." Jim said as he looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him, he didn't want to leave.

"Yeah good night." Mel replied then stepped onto her tip toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long, passionate goodnight kiss.

"I love you Mel." Jim said as they pulled out of the kiss.

"I love you too." Melinda replied as she lowered herself back onto the soles of her feet.

"See you later then." Jim said sweetly.

"Yeah you too," Mel replied then she finally opened the door to the apartment and went inside quickly closing the door behind her so she would resist the urge to go back out and kiss Jim once more.

When she got inside the apartment she just stayed with her back against

The front door, a huge smile plastered across her face until something startled her.

"Good night then?" Andrea said half asking half teasing.

"God don't do that." Melinda said as she threw something at the sofa where Andrea was sat.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help it, you look so loved up." Andrea replied.

"Yeah he's great, and I told him." Mel said a little more seriously now.

"You did?" Andrea replied shocked.

"Yup and he believes me, Andrea he didn't look at me like I was crazy he just told me that he believed me and that he loved me."

"Oh my gosh that's really great Melinda." Andrea said supportively.

"I….know." Melinda said letting out a huge yawn.

"You're tired and you have work tomorrow so you should go to bed." Andrea suggested in a friendly manner.

"Yeah I will, goodnight then Andrea." Mel said sleepily.

"Goodnight." She replied.

Melinda then went off to bed her dreams filled with thoughts of Jim, she was the happiest woman in the world, but for how long?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I updated a long one to make up for the time it took me to write. I hope you enjoyed it and please review if you have the time. Also thanks to everyone who has read so far and thank you for all the reviews x


	7. Chapter 7 Not quite according to plan

I took a while to update again and I am sorry but I had things to do. Thanks for all the reviews last time they were really encouraging and thanks to everyone who reads the story even if you don't review because without you lot there would be no point in me writing these chapters and posting them!

Chapter 7 Not quite according to plan 

Melinda awoke the next morning feeling as though she hadn't even been to bed. Her eyelids were heavy and her limbs felt as though she spent yesterday running a marathon. She would have definitely gone back to sleep had it not been for work, she had to go in today and tomorrow then her notice was up and she was free to set up the shop.

Melinda pulled herself out of bed and plodded along to the bathroom in a zombie-like daze not even noticing Andrea asleep on the living room couch.

She looked in the mirror and groaned at her reflection seeing nothing but a washed out, overworked woman staring back at her.

"God I hate my job." Melinda said to her self as she splashed ice cold water over her face.

She grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth, the lack of effort required almost caused her to fall asleep whilst doing it but she reframed.

"_Two more days, only two more days and I'm free."_ She though to herself hoping it would give her the incentive to get dressed.

On her way back to her room Melinda noticed Andrea and smiled to herself then she noticed the time on the clock. 8:00am.

"Crap, crap, crap." She muttered to herself, she must have slept in or something because now she only had 15 minutes to get dressed and set off for work or she would definitely be late.

The stressed out ghost whisperer walked into her room and pulled on the first outfit she could see, she pinned her hair back into a messy pony tail and ran out of the apartment with just her keys and handbag, she didn't even bother to pick up a coat or grab a slice of toast. Food would have to wait.

Melinda sped down the road that lead her to the main town of Grandview intent on making it into work on time then suddenly she saw something in the middle of the road that caused her to slam on the breaks.

"Shit." She said to herself as the car stopped and her heart began to slowly return to normal pace.

As far as she could see there was no longer anything in the road and she certainly didn't hit anything which made Melinda think that she was just imagining things, she was really tired so she just started the car again and made her way to work without any further interruptions.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You made it, just." An elderly woman said from behind the desk at the office where Mel worked.

"I know, I know but I did make it." Mel replied a little out of breath from running up the stairs.

"You look like hell too." The elderly woman added just for good measure.

"Thanks Jo you look great as well." Mel said sarcastically.

"I clocked you in you can go now." Jo smirked playfully.

Mel just gave a sarcastic smile and went over to sit at her desk, she really did not like that woman, she was mean and smelled musty and no matter what Melinda did she was cruel to her. _Only 2 more days _Mel said to her self again as she sat down at her desk and sifted through some random paper work she would definitely never read.

She was about to start taking some phone calls when a ghost popped up right in front of her.

"Oh god!" Mel exclaimed as she saw the spirit and almost jumped out of her seat.

"Help me…" The ghost said simply but something about the way she spoke got to Mel.

"What do you need?" Mel asked.

"Go back to the road, go to the woods she's still there." The ghost said then abruptly disappeared as many of her ghosts did.

"_What road near the woods… I must have passed it at some point."_ Melinda said to herself.

She tried to put the thoughts of the ghost out of her mind and actually started to get on with her job then she suddenly had what could only be described as a 'ah ha' moment.

"_The thing in the road this morning it was the ghost, I'm sure it was by the woods." _She said aloud.

"Talking to yourself again Melinda." Jo said as she came stood by the doorway to Mel's office.

"What do you want now?" Mel moaned.

"Oh nothing, some guy called for you, Jim he's on line 2." Jo said cheekily.

"Oh, oh okay thanks, bye." Mel said as she realised _who_ Jo was talking about.

"Yeah whatever." She replied and walked back to her desk.

Mel picked up the phone and pressed the relevant button so that she was put through to Jim.

"Hey Jim sorry I kept you waiting." Mel said as she twisted a piece of her hair around her finger.

"_No problem, I was just ringing to see if you wanted to meet after you finish work."_ Jim replied.

"Sure, oh wait I have to run an errand first but it shouldn't take too long, I can drive to yours straight after." Mel suggested.

"_If that's okay with you then it's okay with me, what time do you finish I usually have an afternoon sleep because of my crazy shifts."_ Jim joked.

"I finish at 6 so I should be at yours between 7 and half past if that's okay."

"_Yeah that's great, I'll see you later then Mel."_

"Okay see you tonight."

"_I love you." _Jim said instinctively.

"I love you too." Mel replied then they both hung up the phone, each of them with a huge smile on their face.

Melinda carried on the rest of her day at work feeling much more positive, she knew that after her long day she had something good to look forward to and this seemed to make it go that little bit faster.

Before Melinda knew it the clock turned 6 and she was able to leave her office and head off on her ghostly mission so she could see Jim that little bit sooner, she walked over to Jo's desk and cleared her throat loudly in order to attract the attention of the sleeping secretary.

"I was just resting my eyes now what do you want Melinda?" Jo spat.

"Erm it's 6 I've come to clock out and I'm sure you should be going home soon too." Mel said trying to be as polite as possible.

"Yeah right. Go you're officially clocked out." Jo said. She didn't want to let Melinda know but she was going to miss her when she was gone, hell no one else ever put up with her the way Mel did.

"Okay bye then." Mel said then she practically ran down the stairs and got into her car.

Melinda drove to the road where she had first seen the ghost that morning and pulled over at a lay-by by the woods.

"Are you there? Is this where you wanted me to come?" Melinda asked hoping that the ghost would appear before her once more"

Mel looked around for a bit then she saw a shadowy figure hidden behind a few trees.

"Hello." She called as she followed the shadow further into the woods the darkness starting to obscure her vision.

"Where are we going?" Mel asked a little confused, she was now completely out of the beam of her headlights and had no idea how far into the woods she was.

"She's here." The ghost said as she stopped at the top of a small hill.

Melinda peered down into the gap and could just about make out the outline of a motionless figure.

"Oh my gosh is that you?" Mel asked.

"She needs you." The spirit said and then the ground started to shake beneath her.

Melinda lost hr footing and let out a loud scream as the edge she was standing on crumbled and she fell, she fell down the hill and landed next to the body she had seen from the top.

Her whole body ached, she couldn't move she could barley even breathe but the thing that bothered her the most was Jim. He would think she stood her up and no one would know any different, no one knew where she was, she was trapped.

Time seemed to pass by so slowly but she could feel the temperature dropping, _'Why didn't I put on my coat'_ Mel thought to herself as she felt her whole body begin to tremble, the pain coursing through her as she did. She didn't want t cry but she couldn't help it ever part of her ached and she was scared, what if she died here, like this.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jim was pacing the floor of his apartment wondering where on earth Melinda was. He had gotten worried when she hadn't showed up by 7:30 and now at 9:30 he was completely beside himself.

He called Mel's work to make sure that she had left and when there was no answer he called Andrea to find that she hadn't been home either. Her cell wasn't ringing and Jim didn't know what to do. Andrea had come over to Jim's place as soon as she had found out her friend was missing, they were going to have to go and look for her.

"Jim don't worry so much, I'm sure she's fine she runs off all the time, did she say anything about where she was going?" Andrea asked trying to mask her worry to keep Jim calm.

"No just that she had an errand to run, Andrea she was supposed to be here 2 hours ago." Jim said, worry evident in his voice.

"Okay well that means she was on ghost business, I'm gonna get in my car and check the square and the new shop and you should check the roads. She always takes the same route to work." Andrea finished.

Jim didn't need to be told twice, he grabbed his car keys of the kitchen counter and ran to his car not even bothering to lock up.

After 30 minutes of searching Jim was getting anxious, he was just about to give up he was just about to give up hope when he spotted Mel's car parked in the lay-by, headlights still shining brightly.

Jim pulled up behind Mel's car, grabbed his paramedic kit out of the back seat and ran into the woods using the car headlights to guide him through.

"MEL." He called loudly his voice echoing through the woods.

Soon he too was out of the welcoming glow of the car headlights and so he pulled a t to torch out of his kit.

'_If she came this far there was no way she could see anything'_ Jim though to himself as he continued to bound through the woods calling Melinda's name.

Melinda could hear faint footsteps in the distance and the call of a mans voice but she had no energy left to call back, for all she knew it could just be a figment of her imagination, she had to focus on keeping warm and staying conscious.

Jim kept walking until he saw footprints in the mud, they were small and definitely from a woman, he was getting close, he only hoped that she was okay.

"MELINDA." His voice boomed again and this time Mel heard, she definitely heard Jim calling her name and she so badly wanted to call back.

"Mel can you hear me." Jim said as he stopped at the edge of the hill then he looked down.

"Oh my god, Melinda." Jim said as he saw he small form lying at the bottom of the hill almost motionless. He didn't even notice the other body just a few meters away from her, he just needed to get down there.

Pulling the radio out of his paramedic kit he called for an ambulance to meet them on the road explaining that there were two parked cars with headlights on so they wouldn't miss them then he carefully made his way down to Melinda.

"Okay Mel, it's alright I'm almost there." Jim said as he heard the faint sound of Mel crying. He hated to hear he cry but this time he was glad, glad that she was making some noise, glad that she was alive.

Eventually Jim reached his beloved ghost whisperer and could barley contain his emotions.

"Mel I'm here everything is going to be okay." Hey as he whispered sweetly as he stroked her hair softly and placed his jacket around her shivering frame.

"Where does it hurt honey?" Jim asked, he had to make sure she was okay.

"I..I'm not sure.. E…everywhere." Mel confessed between sniffles.

"Okay shhh, an ambulance is on its way, we'll get you to hospital and everything will be fine." Jim said reassuringly, his heart breaking as he saw how much pain she was in and there was nothing he could do but stroke her hair and whisper words of reassurance.

"No. no hospital." Mel choked.

"Yes Mel I'm sorry but there's no getting out of this one, I'll be with you the whole time." Jim replied.

The ambulance arrived not long after and Melinda was pulled up the hill with Jim close behind he had to cover his ears when they pulled her up as he could bare to hear her cry out in pain.

"J..im I'm s..so sorry." Mel sniffled.

"Hey, hey you have nothing to be sorry for just concentrate on getting yourself better." Jim replied.

The ambulance sped off toward the hospital then Melinda was taken to be examined whilst Jim was left waiting for news outside the room. He called Andrea to fill in the time and let her know what was happening but he was still scared, scared for the woman of his dreams. Who would have thought he would fall so hard so fast, who would have thought that the perfect romance would take such a dramatic turn over night?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope you enjoyed reading this please review. Thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 8 No going alone

Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter, they were really appreciated. I'm sorry for making you all wait a while. I was supposed to upload the other story first but I have kind of hit a wall so I hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 8 No going alone

Jim and Andrea sat at the side of Melinda's bed waiting for her to wake. On the way to the hospital she had been in and out of consciousness and it appeared that on arrival she eventually lost the battle to stay in the land of the living. Her sleeping form laid still in the centre of a hospital bed, doctors had been flying in and out of the room inserting IV drips and connecting wires to her body in order to monitor her vital signs. Amidst all the goings on Jim and Andrea still hadn't been told what the hell was going on. They didn't know what exactly was wrong with her or how serious her injuries were and Jim's patience was wearing thin, he got up and began pacing around the room.

"Where the hell are all the doctors, they come in here, wire her up and then leave without telling us anything." Jim said, his voice a little bitter.

"I'm sure they'll be back they're just busy people." Andrea replied trying to keep the situation cool.

"I don't care Andrea look at her, she looks really pale and she hasn't woken up yet, what if she needs help, she can't tell us can she." Jim stated again his voice showing anger but cracking with emotion too.

"Jim you need to calm down, just stay with her, hold her hand and I'll go find someone." Andrea replied rationally although she too was scared for her friend.

Jim took a deep breath and returned to his seat by Melinda's head then took her hand carefully into his.

"Thanks Andrea." He said a little more calmly now.

Andrea smiled, "It's no problem." She whispered and then headed out the room leaving Jim alone with Melinda for the first time since she had been taken to the hospital.

"Mel, I don't know if you can hear me but if you can I want you to know that I love you." Jim started, he had to pause to hold back the tears that were on the brink of falling from his crystal blue eyes.

"I love you Mel and I don't want you to leave me, you can't leave me not when we have just found each other, there is so much more we have to do together." Jim continued then he squeezed her hand lightly and wiped away the tears that had fallen with his other.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melinda was confused, she was in a dark place and she had no idea what the hell was going on, the last thing she remembered she was following some ghost through the woods and now, everything was black.

She felt herself beginning to panic, it was harder to breathe so she had to focus on something, anything other than her current situation. She listened carefully to her surroundings and the faint sound of a mans voice caught her attention.

"_Jim"_ She thought to herself as she tried so hard to hear what he was saying.

Once she identified what the man was saying she was sure that it was Jim, she needed to get to him, she had to find him and explain why she was late. He sounded so upset and so Melinda fought, she fought against the darkness that seemed to be engulfing every inch of her and she fought the urge to just give up and stop breathing. She fought until the faint beeping of hospital machinery could be heard and the dim lighting of the hospital room peered its way into the small gaps in her newly opened eyes.

"_Jim."_ Mel said weakly as she moved her fingers in his hand.

"Mel, Mel oh my gosh you're awake, thank God you're awake." Jim said as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"_Jim what happened?" _Mel whispered confused as she took in her surroundings and realised she had no recollection of how she had ended up in a hospital or why she hurt everywhere.

"You fell in the woods, it was quite a long fall, I was so worried when you didn't show up so I called Andrea and we came looking for you. I don't know what exactly is wrong, Andrea is looking for a doctor now." Jim said as he stared down lovingly at the woman lying in the bed, looking so vulnerable.

Mel closed her eyes for a second and took in a deep breath the she quickly opened her eyes again as if she had just remembered something.

"_Jim I was helping someone, the other body down the hill I think she was still alive, did they bring her in? Oh and the ghost, I need to help her too." _Mel said her brain working in over drive as she contemplated all scenarios of what could have happened to the girl, where the ghost was and how she was going to help her.

"Melinda that is the last thing you should be thinking about now, you need to get yourself better because you owe me a date. I can try and find out about the other girl for you but at the moment I don't know, I haven't left your side since I was allowed in." Jim replied sweetly.

Mel smiled at Jim but she knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as just lying in hospital and getting better. Jim didn't realise just how persistent spirits could be when they needed help, they had no concept of time or severity of situations so when they found someone who could help them they went at it by any means necessary.

"_Jim she needs my help, I have to go back to the woods." _Mel said weakly her eyes fluttering as she spoke.

"Mel you aren't in any state to go anywhere right now honey, and when you do get better you aren't going back into the woods alone, I am coming with you and that goes for all potentially dangerous ghost hunts." Jim stated lovingly yet matter of factly.

Melinda reluctantly gave in, for the moment, and lay back down on her pillow whilst they waited for Andrea to come back with a doctor or someone that could tell them what the hell was going on.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It hadn't been long when Andrea came bounding through the doors to Melinda's room with a disgruntled look on her face.

"I swear you never get anywhere in this place unless you are bloody celebrity or know the staff. I've been up and down this hospital just to find one doctor that had the time to come and talk to us, he'll be here in a minute, but seriously I need to sit down." Andrea said rushed, she didn't even notice that Melinda was now awake and just looking at her in amusement.

Jim just stood smiling at Andrea as she sat down and pulled the tie out of her hair.

"What?" She asked confused.

Jim shook his head and began to chuckle which caused Melinda to let a small giggle escape from her lips too. Andrea jumped at the sound.

"Mel, Melinda you're awake, oh I'm so sorry, how do you feel, how's your head, do you need anything?" Andrea asked exasperatedly.

"I'm okay Andrea Jim has been looking after me although I think you both need to go home and shower, I'll be fine." Melinda said, her voice becoming more confident as she started to feel more awake.

Jim and Andrea were about to protest at the same time when a stoutly looking male doctor entered the room.

"Miss Gordon I am doctor Freedman I have come to take a look at you and explain everything to you and your friends is that okay?" He asked very professionally.

Melinda nodded and attempted to sit herself up a little in the bed so she could hear what he was saying better.

"Good. I will begin then." He stated matter of factly and began peering at Melinda's chart and taking a look at the machines to view her vital signs.

"Are you experiencing any pain?" He asked.

"Erm, my head hurts a little and my stomach but it isn't too bad." Melinda spoke timidly.

"Mmm hmm, okay well I will give you a small dose of morphine for the pain, your vitals look good but your blood pressure is a little low, nothing to be too worried about at the moment though." Doctor Freedman continued and stroked his small, white beard cunningly.

"When can I go home?" Melinda asked showing with the tone of her voice that she really wanted to get out of the place.

"If everything continues to go well I can release you tomorrow under the conditions that you take it easy for a couple of days and are supervised the day you go home. You also need to make sure you eat constant meals, your notes show that you experience dizziness a lot you need to eat well." Dr Freedman said, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Okay I can do that." Mel replied.

"Good. Melinda your head injury was pretty bad, you had quite a fall and are lucky to not be in a coma, I want you to be more careful in future, don't go into the woods alone at night it isn't safe. I have other patients to see now but make sure that you pick something to eat of the lunch menu, I recommend the carbanara, it's magnificent." He commented and then pottered out of the room and handed Melinda's chart to one of the nurses before disappearing down the corridor.

"What a strange man." Andrea said when she was sure he was out of sight.

"He was a bit odd." Jim replied with a confused expression.

"Well I thought he was quite polite, much better than my last doctor, you remember that creepy old dude with the crazy twitch Andrea?" Mel said as she turned her nose up in distaste.

"Oh yeah he was sooo weird I'm glad he doesn't work here." Andrea added.

"Guys I think you should go home for a couple of hours, I have to eat lunch and go to sleep for a while so you can go home, sleep and shower then come back. I'm not going to die and I wont be much conversation if I'm asleep." Mel said feeling bad that she had enlisted her friend and her boyfriend of just 3 weeks for 24 hour surveillance.

"Mel we are here because we want to be." Jim stated simply.

"I know but it would make me feel like less of a burden if you went home, just for a little while, I promise you can come back." Mel said smiling and fluttering her eyelids at the pair of them, she knew Jim couldn't resist and Andrea would feel bad and give in.

"Urrghh fine, you win we'll go." Andrea chirped.

"Yes!" Mel mock cheered to celebrate her mini victory.

"Hey, hey wait a minute I never agreed to leave." Jim joked.

"Well you have no choice now, Andrea agreed for you and you can't go back on your word." Mel said playfully.

"It wasn't _my_ word." Jim said putting emphasis on the word my.

"That is just a technicality, now go before I get out of this bed and make you." Mel replied knowing that threatening to move should do the trick.

"Fine, fine you win." Jim replied and leant down to kiss her goodbye. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and hovered his face by her ear.

"_I'll see you soon, love you."_ He whispered softly.

Mel turned her head to his ear, "_I love you too._" She said softly then Jim and Andrea left leaving Melinda to have some lovely hospital food and rest for a while.

They couldn't wait to get her home safe so that she could be under their watchful eye rather than that of the awol hospital staff and Jim still had to show Mel his incredible cooking talents so when she got out he was going to invite he back to his place and cook her the most amazing meal she has ever tasted.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A bit dull, kind of a fill in chapter really but I hadn't updated in a while so yeah….


	9. Chapter 9 The big surprise

Hey guys sorry I took so long, uni is time consuming and March is the birthday month in my family so I have been busy with that too. Hope you enjoy and hopefully updates will be coming quicker with this one.

Chapter 9 The big surprise

3 days had passed and Melinda was now waiting to be taken home from the hospital. She had been given strict instructions that she must take a days rest and try to reduce her stress levels by the doctor and the first sign of her breaking the conditions would result in a second trip to the doctor.

Whilst she had been held hostage at the hospital Jim, Andrea and a couple of friends from the fire house had fixed up Melinda's old apartment so they could surprise her when she came home. It was now the job of Jim to collect his girlfriend and take her to her newly decorated and furnished home.

"Good morning honey." Jim said as he entered Melinda's hospital room with a huge smile on his face and a bunch of red roses in his hand.

"Morning." Mel replied then kissed him passionately.

"The flowers are beautiful." She added as she took them in her hand and inhaled their wonderful scent.

Jim picked up Melinda's hospital bag in one hand and placed the other supportively around her waist.

"You ready to go home then?" Jim asked as he looked down into her enchanting hazel eyes.

"I was ready as soon as I go here." Mel replied giving Jim a sense of just how much she hated hospitals.

"Right let's get going then." He stated and guided Mel out of the hospital to her red Jeep.

He had driven her car to the hospital because his was getting serviced at the garage and it would be easier for Melinda, he could walk home or take a cab if he needed to.

They hadn't been on the road long when Melinda noticed that they weren't heading in the right direction to go to Andrea's apartment where she had been staying for the last 2 weeks.

"Jim this is the wrong way, Andrea lives that way not this way." Mel said confused.

"First of all when giving directions _this way _and _that way_ aren't helpful descriptions, and secondly who said we were going to Andrea's apartment, I have a surprise for you first." Jim said playfully.

"Jiiiimmm you and your surprises, what is it this time?" Mel asked knowing that she was going to get some evasive answer.

"Mel I told you a million times if I tell you where we are going it won't be a surprise any more you got that?" He said with a slight chuckle.

"Ohh fine." Mel replied pretending to get in a huff. She would just have to sit and wait.

"How long?" She asked letting out a small yawn as she did.

"10 maybe 15 minutes." Jim replied hoping that she wouldn't look out the window and recognise anything.

"Okay." Mel said yawning again.

The warmth of the car had made Mel tired and try as she did her eyes lids gradually began to fall until she was fully asleep in the front of the car. Jim just smiled to himself when he realised that she had drifted off, getting her to relax was going to be that little bit easier if she was actually tired, and the surprise couldn't be ruined if she slept through the journey.

The car journey flew by for Melinda, she was sleeping peacefully and didn't even notice that they had pulled up outside her old apartment building. Jim took the keys out of the ignition and then turned to the sleeping beauty next to him.

"Mel honey we're here." He whispered to her sweetly.

"Huh." She mumbled as she slowly aroused from her sleep.

"You fell asleep honey, we're here." Jim stated simply.

Mel slowly sat herself up and rubbed her eyes.

"We're here?" She said half asking, half repeating Jim's words.

"Yup, but you have to close your eyes until we get inside." Jim replied.

"Fine." Mel said and then did as she was asked.

Jim led Melinda inside the building carefully and walked her into the elevator.

"Jim what's that noise?" Mel asked as she heard the noise of the lift moving up toward her floor.

"Don't worry Mel, it's fine." Jim said reassuringly as he lightly squeezed her shoulders in support, "Almost there now." He added as the lift came to a halt at their floor.

Jim led Melinda to the door of her apartment and then stepped inside with her in front of him.

"Right Mel you can open your eyes now." He said simply.

Melinda opened her eyes and saw both Andrea and Jim standing in her apartment with huge smiles on their faces.

"Surprise." They both said at the same time.

Melinda was taken aback by the pair stood in her almost unrecognisable apartment, the whole place had been renovated so much so that if you hadn't of known there had been a fire in the building you wouldn't be able to tell at all.

The walls had all been painted carefully in an array of tasteful colours and patterns, the living room was mainly cream with the exception of one wall which was papered a deep red colour to match the sofa and chair. The carpet was also cream but there was a red rug on the floor and the television and coffee table set the room up nicely, although it didn't look anything like her apartment used to, or anything like the place she had been staying for the last few weeks it felt homely.

"Oh my gosh… thank you so much, I can't believe you guys did all this." Melinda said extremely surprised and thankful for the whole thing.

"Well you deserve it Mel." Jim said.

"Yeah and you couldn't live in my apartment your whole life you were cramping my style." Andrea joked which resulted in a light tap from Melinda as she pretended to be deeply offended.

"Hey, I'm not that uncool am I?" Melinda said which received small giggles and eye rolls from the two people in the room.

"Fine." Mel said and giggled herself.

"Okay well you wanna see the rest of the place, I'll give you a grand tour." Jim said as he placed an arm around Melinda's waist.

"Sure but what about Andrea?" Mel said then looked toward her friend.

"Oh I have to be going now anyway, I arranged to pick up some stock for the shop but I will call you tomorrow." Andrea replied then came over to give Mel a hug.

"See you later Andrea." Jim said.

"Bye, you guys have fun now, and Melinda remember to take it easy." She added with a wink as she stood by the open door.

"Hey, stop being rude. Bye Andrea." Mel replied then Andrea left Mel and Jim alone.

"So how about this grand tour then." Mel stated as she looked up at Jim.

"Okay where do you want to start?" Jim asked.

"Erm… the kitchen, I'm actually kinda hungry." Mel said sheepishly.

"Okay well I tell you what, I'll cook up one of my famous meals that we were supposed to have before you went into hospital, and you can go relax on the sofa." Jim stated.

"Aww but I want to help." Mel pouted.

"Nope, no helping, you've already been standing up way too long anyway and I want it to be a surprise so you go sit there, I'll get you a blanket and the remote, if you find something good to watch time will fly by." Jim said humorously.

Melinda could see that she wasn't going to win this one and she didn't have the heart to try and out stubborn him this time, he had spent his rare amounts of free time helping Andrea decorate her apartment and now he was going to cook for her. She had to let him win this one.

"Fine I'll put something on the telly but if I get into it you will have to pry me away from the screen." Mel joked.

"Aw that shouldn't be too much of a problem I don't think." Jim grinned boyishly then handed Mel a blanket.

"Okay I'll just be through here, have fun." Jim stated and then placed a soft kiss on her lips before making his way to the kitchen to prepare the meal he had meant to cook on the night Melinda had the fall.

Almost 40 minutes passed when Jim came into the room again to tell Melinda that the food was ready, he found her completely glued to the television set absorbed in a programme about musicians.

"Mel honey food's ready." He said as he made his way over to the sofa.

"Hmmm." Mel replied sounding extremely disinterested and distant.

"Melinda did you even hear me, the food is ready." He said again, standing in front of the T.V. this time so she would pay attention to him.

"What, did you say something before?" She asked sheepishly.

Jim just laughed and then helped her off the sofa.

"Yeah, you must have been enjoying that show, the food is going to get cold." He answered then led Melinda toward the kitchen where the food was laid out neatly on the table.

A candelabra was placed as a centre piece, the flames burning brightly illuminating the dimly lit room and the smell of the food coming from the kitchen was so good that Melinda could feel her mouth beginning to water.

Jim pulled out a chair for Melinda then went to fetch the plates of food from the kitchen, the meal consisted of a variety of different vegetables and noodles seasoned with a bunch of different ingredients that added a magnificent flavour and a mouth watering smell to the dish.

"Mmm Jim this is amazing." Melinda said as she took her first bite of the food.

"Thank you, it's something I developed after college, I could finally afford real food and so I cooked up something interesting." Jim replied sweetly.

"Well whatever it is it's great." Mel said as she took another mouth full and basked in the glorious flavour.

Eventually dinner was over and Jim knew that Melinda needed her rest and that he would have to go home soon and let her sleep but in this moment he didn't want to leave her, the candle lit room illuminated her skin so beautifully, her smile made her face look so bright and her laugh made his entire body tingle, she was amazing and he didn't want to leave her, ever.

Jim cleared the plates then walked over to the chair where Melinda was sitting to give her a kiss. The kiss lasted longer than he had anticipated and Melinda ended up been carried to the sofa, their lips still connected in a passionate, fiery embrace.

Once they reached the sofa they broke apart and stared into each others eyes, in this moment it seemed like there was just the two of them in the whole world and nothing else mattered, all their thoughts, feelings and vulnerabilities were visible through their eyes but it didn't matter, not to them.

"Mel.. I really do love you." Jim said softly as he stroked her hair.

"I know.. I love you too." She replied as she moved her head into his chest.

She looked at the clock across the room and realised that soon she would be alone in her apartment, before she didn't mind, before Jim it was what she had been used to but not now. Now she had someone who was there for her no matter what, he stuck around even when she told him to go.

"Mel I'm gonna have to go soon." Jim said, his voice showing his reluctance to leave.

"Do you have to go?" Mel asked sweetly yet longingly.

"Not if you don't want me too but you need to go to bed." Jim replied still stroking her long, brown hair carefully.

"I know, will you… will you stay with me." Mel added nervously, she was still scared, scared that the ghost from the woods would come back and somewhere in the back of her mind she was scared that Jim might leave her.

"If you want me to Mel, I'll do whatever you want me to." He replied sweetly as he looked deeply into her eyes and saw a reflection of her thoughts glimmer through her eyes.

About an hour later Melinda had changed into her pyjamas and fallen blissfully asleep in Jim's arms so he carefully lifted her up and carried her to the bed. He pulled back the covers and laid her down gently. She stirred a little but then returned to her peaceful state. He then covered her frame with the duvet, pulled off his shoes and jeans and climbed in the bed beside her for the first time.


	10. Chapter 10 Shop talk

Hey guys sorry I took a while again but no one seems to be updating these days and I have had a lot of work to do!! Just want to say thanks to all the reviews that I am getting, keep them coming they are really appreciated! Enjoy.

Chapter 10 Shop talk

The morning sun shone brightly through the gap in Melinda's curtains causing both her and Jim to slowly awaken from their blissful sleep. Mel couldn't remember the last time she had slept this well, even whilst staying at Andrea's her sleep was still plagued by bad dreams and disturbances from the other side, but not last night.

"Morning." Jim said with a huge smile on his face.

"Good morning." Melinda replied as she rolled closer into Jim's arms, the heat from his body warming hers.

"What time is it?" Melinda asked then let out a huge yawn.

"11, I have to go home soon, I have a shift at 1." Jim said sadly.

Mel pouted a little then attempted to pull away from him so she could take a shower and get herself ready too.

"Jim let me go." She giggled as she fought against his grasp.

"What if I don't want to?" Jim added playfully.

"Well then you'll never get home in time for work, you need me to give you a ride remember." Mel replied.

"Fine but first I need a good morning kiss." Jim said sweetly, he hoped that it would be the first of many kisses in the morning.

"Can I go shower now I have to go help Andrea in the store, we should be ready to open in a few weeks." Mel beamed, she was so excited about the new store and the antiques, she really did love antiques.

"Mel you promised me, Andrea and the doctor that you would take it easy, you shouldn't be rushing around." Jim said lovingly as he stroked her hair.

"Jim I am so fine you wouldn't believe and I haven't seen the ghost since the accident I will take a shower, drive you home and then when you get a break we can meet, Andrea will look after me." Mel replied trying to put Jim at ease, she really wasn't used to someone caring about her as much as Jim did.

"Alright fine but whilst you shower I'm making breakfast, do you like omelette?" He asked sweetly.

"Of course." Melinda replied then placed a soft kiss on his lips before they parted to go about their separate chores.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_2 hours later_

Melinda opened the door to her new shop smiling brightly, her brown hair hanging in soft curls by her shoulders, her features beaming in the wonderful sunlight that illuminated the store.

"Well don't you look chirpy this afternoon, you had a good evening I take it." Andrea said, this was basically a clean way of asking if anything sexual happened last night.

"Yeah I had a really great night and before you even say anything nothing of that nature happened." Mel added knowing exactly what Andrea's next question would have been had she not cleared the air.

"What are you suggesting, that _I _ would ask anything suggestive?" Andrea said with mock innocence in her voice.

Melinda just rolled her eyes and made her way around back to begin inventorying the large piles of stock she had been collecting for the last few months.

"When you say nothing happened do you actually mean nothing, he stayed the night and you did _nothing._" Andrea said again as she followed Melinda into the back room carrying a pile of folders and other pieces of paper.

"Andrea we talked then I fell asleep on his knee so he carried me to bed, nothing happened, now would you help me with this box Jim said I'm not allowed to do any heavy lifting and this box is heavy." Mel replied as she attempted to lift a box that was at least half her size.

"Come here." Andrea laughed then took the box from Melinda.

"Jim's right, the doctor said relax, take it easy, now where do you want me to put this thing?" Andrea asked as she wondered around with the box in her arms.

"Right there by the desk will do." Mel replied then walked over to take a seat at the computer, there was some kind of spread sheet on the screen that allowed her to log in all the stock.

"Anything else boss?" Andrea asked as she was now standing around doing nothing.

"No I'm good here clicking things, you can pass me stuff or draw out some plans for the layout of the shop front, you're good at art, much better than me." Mel replied complementing her friends skills.

"Okay I'll work up some designs for the shop front." Andrea replied then the two women set to work.

A few minutes of silence passed before Andrea broke it, asking yet another question about Mel and Jim, she really couldn't help herself.

"So nothing happened with you and Jim _this time_ but what about next time, is he going to be staying over again?" Andrea asked cheekily.

"_Andrea_ really?" Mel said shyly.

"What I just want to know, I mean he's hot and nice and funny and HOT, why wouldn't you want to sleep with him?" She replied in her defence.

"Okay first of all he's mine so don't be getting any ideas." Mel joked.

"And secondly I didn't say I didn't want to sleep with him, I just said nothing happened last night because I was so tired, I'm staying at his place tonight." Mel added playfully.

"Oh it's like that is it?" Andrea replied laughing as she did, if the pair carried on like this they would probably never get any work done.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with the monotonous task of logging items on a computer and placing them in coded boxes ready for display, by the time it reached 5 Melinda really did just want to get the hell out of the store and she was expecting Jim to stop by any moment.

Andrea had left the store early to go and pick up some decorations and scour for the best deals on paints and paper ready to decorate the shop front, she already had some phenomenal ideas for the main room and Melinda couldn't wait to see the whole thing when it came together, it wouldn't be long now.

Just as Mel had finished placing the last item into one of the boxes at the far end of the room, she heard the shop bell ring.

"Mel it's me where are you?" Jim called as he walked around the shop floor looking for her.

"I'm back here, wait there I'll just be a second." Mel replied. She was standing on top of some kind of step ladder trying to retrieve her jacket that had somehow moved it's self up there.

She fumbled around stretching her arm as far across the shelf as she could be to no avail, she couldn't reach the coat in a last ditch attempt she jumped a little and swung her arm causing a glass vase to fall from the shelf and shatter at her feet.

"Ahh." Mel screamed and jumped a little, she wasn't expecting that.

"Mel, Mel are you okay." Jim called as he ran into the room.

"I'm fine I just can't reach my blasted jacket I swear I didn't put it up here." Mel replied gesturing toward the shelf she was still standing in front of.

Jim reached up and retrieved the coat with ease and then lifted Melinda off the stool and over the shattered glass so she didn't cut her feet, her shoes were open toed.

"Here Mel, you really should be more careful we wouldn't want you getting hurt now would we." Jim said sweetly and pulled her into a tight hug placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I was fine honestly I just need a taller ladder that's all." She joked then started to pull her jacket onto her arms.

"Right I'll just clean this up and then we can get out of here." Mel added.

"Where's the dust pan and bush and I'll clean it for you?" Jim said lovingly.

"Jim I can do it you don't have to." Mel replied feeling a little bad that Jim was so good to her, she felt like she didn't deserve him sometimes.

"No I want to Mel." He replied then Melinda passed him the equipment and he cleaned up the mess.

"Shall we get going then?" Jim asked as he took Mel's hand and laced his fingers in between hers.

"Yeah I think that is a brilliant idea." Mel replied and they made their way out of the store toward Mel's car where they would drive back to her apartment.

She had already gathered her things for Jim's house in a bag and just needed to collect it plus Jim needed a ride home due to his lack of a vehicle for another 24 hours but she was surprised at how nervous she was about staying at his apartment. Mel knew that Jim would never push her into doing anything she wasn't comfortable with and she felt as though she could completely be herself around him, she didn't have to hide any part of who she was and he accepted her, but part of her was still afraid. She was scared that Jim would get tired of her and just leave, she was scared that she might lose the one person that understood her so well and that made her nervous.

It wasn't long before Melinda had driven home and collected her things, the next stop now was Jim's place where the couple had an eventful evening ahead of them in ways they definitely weren't expecting.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay this is where I need the opinion on my avid readers, here I could do a M rated chapter and update the rating of my story or I could sensor it and keep it as a T rated story but I would like you to give your opinions in reviews as I don't want to offend any of you. Please let me know and let me know what you thought of this chapter too, it was kind of a fill in chapter but there you go. x


	11. Chapter 11 Beautiful Disaster

Hey guys I decided to go with the majority and write my first M rated chapter so I hope it's alright :S … BTW I love oxymoron's so that is why I chose this title….. enjoy :-)

Chapter 11 Beautiful disaster

Melinda and Jim sat in the living room of Jim's apartment allowing a few candles to light the room. Melinda felt extremely content as she lay in the arms of her man just staring deep into his adoring blue eyes however she had a horrible feeling that they were being watched.

"Mel are you alright?" Jim asked noticing her body tense and grow closer to his.

"I'm not sure, I think something is here." She whispered then stood up from the sofa where she and Jim had been laying for quite some time.

"Mel where are you going?" He asked confused as she wondered toward the far corner of the room in a trance like state.

She didn't give any reply and just wondered on toward the shadow that only she could see forming in the corner of the room, it was so powerful and very creepy that it sent chills all the way down Melinda's spine.

Jim decided that he would follow just in case, he had already seen her hospitalised due to a ghostly situation and he didn't want anything else to happen to her, all precautions were going to be taken.

"Is anyone here?" Mel called as she faced the darkened corner of the room, her arms wrapped around her waist to suppress the chill.

This ghost definitely wasn't the one from the woods, it felt different, it felt cold and unwelcoming, not confused and sad but the thing that scared her the most was that she couldn't actually see the spirit.

"Why can't I see you?" Mel asked out loud as Jim watched in bemusement, he couldn't see anything but he was a little worried by the tone of Melinda's voice.

"Mel what's going on?" Jim asked.

"I'm not sure." Mel replied as she reached out to touch the darkness in the corner of the room and was pulled into a vision.

Jim jumped toward Melinda as he saw he shake and squirm when her hand touched the wall, from his perspective all he could see was his girlfriend suffering a great deal for no apparent reason, he had never seen this happen before and he was extremely worried.

"Mel, Melinda what's going on, are you okay?" He asked but received no reply as she was still entranced by the vision.

What seemed like 5 minutes later, Melinda flew backwards from the wall and landed in Jim's arms completely dazed but unharmed.

"Mel, are you okay, what happened?" Jim asked concerned.

"I.. I had a vision but I'm okay." She replied as she attempted to remove herself from his lap.

"Honey are you sure you're okay, you looked like you were in pain." Jim said supporting her slightly as she regained her strength and stood up.

"I promise I'm fine but I think I might go and lie down if that's okay." Mel said holding her head lightly.

"Sure that's fine." Jim replied then guided Melinda to his bedroom before leaving her to rest for a little while.

It had been an hour since Jim had left Melinda in his bed to sleep off whatever had happened to her earlier. He had never seen anything like that happen to her before and he was still extremely worried no matter how adamant Mel had been that she was fine so Jim decided that he would go and check on her again.

Jim walked toward the bedroom and lightly tapped on the door, opening it slightly as he did so.

"Mel honey are you feeling any better?" He asked as he carefully made his way into the darkened room.

"Yeah I feel much better." Mel replied as she slowly sat up in the sheets and patted the spot next to her on the bed.

Jim headed over to join Melinda on the bed and placed a soft kiss on her cheek as he came to sit beside her. She looked amazing in her short nightgown, more amazing than he thought possible in such a simple garment. His arm lightly brushed hers and she turned to face him, their eyes meeting allowing them both to see the desire and emotion behind each others eyes, they really were the window to the soul.

Taking what he had seen behind Melinda's eyes Jim went in for the kill, he placed his arm behind Mel's head and pulled her into the most intense kiss that he had ever shared with anyone. As their tongues danced in each others mouths Jim ran his hands over every inch of Melinda's aching body unable to tare himself away, eventually he broke of the kiss so that an exasperated Melinda could catch her breath.

"_Jim"_ She gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

Jim just smiled boyishly, she loved it and he knew it, he could tell by the way her tongue had searched his mouth just as much as his as searched hers and he had every intention of pursuing her body further, as soon as she caught her breath that is.

Jim slowly crawled so that he was almost on top of Melinda, his arms resting either side of her body offering support so he didn't crush her. She looked deeply into his eyes with sheer desire, she wanted this, she wanted him and this was all the encouragement Jim needed to get things moving.

"You sure Mel?" He asked just to make sure that what he was seeing wasn't just his male hormones acting in overdrive.

Melinda didn't even give an answer, she just pulled him closer to her and kissed him deeply leaving no room for misunderstandings.

Jim slowly slid the straps of Melinda's black, satin nightgown down her arms looking lovingly into her eyes as he did so. Melinda then wriggled out of the garment to reveal her beautiful body barley covered by a pair of red laced panties and matching bra, she looked astounding and although Jim would have been quite happy to just stare at her all evening Melinda was less than satisfied with the fully clothed man on top of her.

Jim placed soft kissed down her neck and then onto her cleavage, he was just about to undo the clasp on her bra when she playfully moved away then began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Now Jim this is hardly fair," She giggled as she removed his shirt and tossed it onto the floor beside her nightgown running her hands up and down is firm chest as she did so.

Jim couldn't contain himself much longer, the fell of her soft skin against his sent sensations through his entire body and he decided that he had to help her along. Rolling off of her Jim removed his belt and threw his jeans onto the floor so that he was too just in his undergarments, a very flattering pair of black boxers. He then resumed his position on top of his woman to resume where they had left off.

Jim began tracing soft, wet kissed down Melinda's neck, across her collar bone until he reached her breasts where the lace of her red bra obstructed his pursuit. He quickly combated this issue by unclasping the item and adding it to the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Her breasts were magnificent, perfectly round and of ample size, the bulge in his boxers hardened further, pressing comfortably into Melinda's leg.

Jim cupped her breasts in his hands and began rubbing his thumbs across her nipples causing her to release a soft moan into his ear. He then brought his mouth to her left breast kissing around the area before taking her pert, red nipple into his mouth, his tongue dancing around the area leaving Melinda almost breathless.

He moved on from her breasts placing a soft kiss on her lips again then began running his hands up and down the inside of her thighs a few times before settling his fingers inside the top of her panties. He looked into her eyes once more and then slowly slid them down her legs to reveal everything; she was now underneath him completely naked.

He placed two fingers in between her folds and began caressing her clit whilst simultaneously kissing her. She let out soft moans in his mouth as her tongue hungrily searched his wanting more but he wasn't finished yet. Feeling how wet she was he moved his finger further down and slowly inserted it inside of her causing her to let out a slightly louder moan, she hadn't been expecting that. He moved his finger inside of her slowly at first and then quickened the pace as he felt her breathing quicken, just as she was about to have her first orgasm he stopped and pulled out, teasing her immensely.

"_Jim, why'd you stop"_ She choked barley able to get out a breath.

He just sniggered and then began to kiss her again but it was Melinda's turn to take control of the situation. She quickly removed Jim's boxers and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw, taking his 9inch penis into her hands she began to slowly massage it, teasing him with the movements she made. She carried on pursuing his length until she was sure he couldn't take much more, his now fully erect penis ready to take her to places she had never experienced.

Jim threw her back down on the bed, the tip of his cock pressing lightly against her leg as he lined himself up to enter her.

"You ready for this Mel?" He said sweetly.

Melinda just nodded and then Jim slowly pushed himself inside of his filling her to tight, wet pussy. Melinda let out a large moan as he pushed the rest of his length inside of her. It felt amazing, he gave her a few seconds to adjust and then began thrusting inside of her, slowly at first then quickening his pace as he got a feel for the situation.

His penis danced in and out of her pussy, the full length sliding almost all the way out only to be pushed back in again, it was amazing. She cried out his name as he picked up the pace making sure that he satisfied her in everyway possible. He rubbed her clit with his thumb as he thrusted into her extremely quickly now. She couldn't control her body as she bucked into him trying to feel more of what he had to offer, she was so close as she moaned every time Jim pushed himself back into her. The noise of the headboard crashing against the wall accompanied by Melinda's screams of euphoria were enough to keep Jim going. Melinda couldn't take any more as Jim hit her G spot she cried out his name and he body began to writhe underneath him, he folds clasping around his length he thrusted into her a few more times until he too found his euphoric release.

They were both panting heavily as Jim removed himself from her and rolled to lie next to his beautiful girl.

"That- was a-mazing." Mel said as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Yeah." Jim replied as he pulled her closer to him.

"I love you Melinda." He said as he kissed the back of her head and stroked her hair away from her face.

"I love you too." She replied sleepily.

The young couple then snuggled closer together and Mel feel asleep in the comfort of Jim's arms, he stared at her lovingly for a while before too falling into a blissful sleep state. What had started out as a disastrous evening had turned into something beautiful.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay I hope I did an alright job on this chapter, I have never done anything like that before which is why it took me so long so reviews would be appreciated to let me know how you think I did. I will be updating more frequently as soon as my laptop is fixed. Thanks for reading as always :)


	12. Chapter 12 Haunted

I'm sorry it's been soooo long since I updated, I recently finished one of my other fics and have started to write a new one, also I have been soooo busy with uni work that I haven't had much time at all to wrote this one. I have been thinking of how to continue the story and finally I have managed to put this together and I think it's pretty long... Hope you enjoy and please review!!

Chapter 12 Haunted

The next morning Jim awoke with a huge smile on his face, Melinda was still sleeping with her arm strewn across his chest and her head nestled by his shoulder. She looked so beautiful that he could have stared at her for all of eternity and that still wouldn't have been long enough but he was interrupted by the light vibration of his cell phone.

"Damn it." He whispered as he slowly negotiated moving Melinda's arm from his chest whilst trying to reach the phone from the dresser.

"_Clancy." _He whispered careful not to wake Melinda but he knew that his efforts were pointless as she started to stir.

"_Dude why you whispering?_" The voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Sorry Bobby what do you need?" He asked now raising his voice slightly as Melinda came to.

"_I was just wondering if you'd do me a huge favour and cover my shift tonight, one of the kids has a piano recital and I promised I'd be there I already missed two."_ He replied.

"Okay sure, no problem but you owe me." Jim replied boyishly.

"_Yeah, yeah Clancy, have fun with your bird."_ Bobby joked then hung up.

Jim chuckled to himself and flipped the phone shut not even noticing that Melinda was now sat up in the sheets smiling at him.

"Who was that?" She asked sleepily.

"Bobby, he wants me to cover his shift tonight." Jim replied lovingly.

"Ah, did he have to call so early?" Mel asked letting out a large yawn.

"Honey it is 10am." Jim laughed.

"Oh gosh I have to meet Andrea at the shop at 12 and I look a complete mess, I still need to take a shower and change." Mel said instantly waking up once she realised how late she was running.

"Mel you look beautiful, and you can shower here, don't worry it's not like you need 2 hours to get ready." Jim said comfortingly and attempted to give her a kiss

"You really don't get it at all." Mel replied sweetly moving away from him

"Get what?" Jim asked before leaning in close to Melinda and this time successfully achieving a good morning kiss.

"Jim seriously I have to get ready, my hair looks like, well it looks like I spent the night having hot sex." She squealed as Jim started to tickle her still naked body.

"Well......" He joked kissing her once again.

"Jim." She laughed.

"Okay fine, you go shower and I'll make breakfast, and for the record I love your messy sex hair." Jim said playfully.

"Alright enough, I'll see you in 20 minutes or so." Mel added then kissed him a third time before heading to the bathroom.

Jim followed her with his eyes as she walked, completely naked into the bathroom, she was truly beautiful and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have a woman like her, the fact that she saw dead people was just an interesting technicality.

Once he heard the noise of the shower drumming Jim decided that he would get out of bed and find something to wear so he could make breakfast. The first thing he stumbled upon were a pair of grey cotton jogging bottoms with a woollen lining, not the most flattering thing he owned but they were comfortable and easy to put on until he got a shower later. Now all he had to do was decide what to make and prepare it in time for Melinda before she had to leave.

Jim Briskly walked across to the kitchen, smiling as he heard Melinda's beautiful voice echoing from the shower room when he walked passed. When he reached the kitchen he began routing around in the cupboards to see what he had. There was no cereal, some mouldy bread and some tinned food, not what he was looking for, he pushed the tins aside and found the flour. Next he turned his attention to the fridge and was relieved to find that he had some eggs, milk and butter. He was going to make Melinda the best pancakes she had ever tasted, the girl had to eat.

Jim set on with the breakfast just as Melinda was finishing up in the bathroom, she wrapped a towel around her head and pulled Jim's bath robe on so she could walk to the bedroom without freezing to death.

"Mel do you like lemon?" He called from the kitchen as he heard her move from the bathroom.

"Yeah sure." Mel replied as she rummaged through her travel bag to find her clothes.

First she pulled out a pair of black panties and matching bra and laid them out on the bed. Next she unpacked her outfit for the day, a pair of long black jeans, a white shirt and a black waist coat. It was smart and comfortable, perfect for unpacking boxes and meeting with dealers.

It didn't take her long to dress and she was just about to start drying her hair when Jim called from the kitchen.

"Mel, breakfast is ready and it's going cold."

"Okay just a second." Mel replied, she quickly dried her hair with the towel, ran her fingers through it and headed to the kitchen, her hair in damp, tight curls.

"Mmm something smells wonderful." Mel said as she entered the room licking her lips.

"Pancakes with lemon rind and syrup." Jim replied feeding Mel a bite.

"Yup they are really good." She complimented then began to lick her lips once more to remove the syrup that had been spilt on them.

"Your hair looks nice." Jim said noticing that it looked different than usual.

"Thanks but I didn't actually get time to do anything with it, it isn't even dry." Mel answered blushing a slightly.

"Well you look beautiful, as always." Jim complimented and gave Melinda a soft kiss.

"What time did you say you needed to meet Andrea?" He asked as Mel continued to eat her food.

"12 so I have to leave here by half 11 at least, I like to be early, we have to prepare because some dealers are coming to take a look at our stock, see if they're interested." She answered, mouth half full of food.

"Ah sounds exciting." Jim said trying his best to sound interested in antiques but honestly they didn't really appeal to him that much.

"Alright Jim enough with the sarcasm. Mel said playfully.

She finished her food then quickly finished drying her hair. Mel then collected her things together and made her way to the door.

"You really have to go already?" He asked sweetly.

"You know I do, I wish I didn't have to go but I do, plus you have work tonight and you need to sleep." Mel replied lovingly.

Noticing that the short brunette seemed to be struggling with the rather large bag she was holding Jim stepped in.

"Let me carry that to the car." Jim said.

"It's fine, honestly you don't have to." Mel replied.

"Ah but I want to." Jim answered and then took the bag from Melinda before she even had the chance to blink.

They arrived at the car in no time, her bag was placed in the boot and Mel was ready to leave but she couldn't help but laugh.

"What's funny?" Jim asked confused.

"I just realised you came all the way to the car in just that interesting pair of grey cotton trousers." Mel giggled.

"Yeah, they're comfy and I make them work." Jim replied lightly.

"Alright I got to go, I love you." She said as she shuffled into the driver's seat and placed the keys in the ignition.

"I love you too." Jim replied then leant down to give Mel a goodbye kiss.

"Call you later." Jim added.

"Bye, miss you." Mel said as she closed the car door and started the engine.

As she started to drive off she felt a pang in her chest, she really was going to miss him and seeing him standing on the corner she watched his shirtless form until he was out of sight, and he had stood on that corner until he could no longer see her. It made her heart pang once more as she realised how cold he must have been standing in there in clothes that could only be described as very inappropriate for the current weather.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melinda arrived at the store before Andrea so she decided to take a look through the stuff in the back, she if she could find something interesting to occupy her time until Andrea arrived.

Melinda walked over to 2 large boxes of well wrapped items and began slowly taking them out of the boxes and unwrapping them. She was just about to take a second item into her hands when a familiar dark shadow crept into the right hand corner of the room instantly filling Melinda with fear but for some reason she was drawn toward it.

She walked toward the corner, arms outstretched like she was trying to feel her way through a darkened room. As she neared she was pulled into yet another vision but this time it was more clear, a lot more clear.

_Melinda was back in the woods looking down at the place she had fallen into. There was a body there, the body she had fallen next to wrapped in black bin liners. She appeared next to the body and saw the face of a young girl staring straight back at her, a look of sheer horror in her eyes that made Melinda fell physically sick._

_To her right she saw the other spirit, the one that had led her to the woods and she was pointing upwards and crying._

"_It was him." The girl said._

_Melinda looked up to the top of the creek and saw the outline of a man, he was tall and had some large instrument in his hand._

"_He did this, he killed me, he killed her, you must stop him."_

_The girl then let out a shrill scream bringing Melinda to her knees before she was pulled out of the vision._

Mel returned back to reality but found that she was now sat in the corner of the room where the shadow had been. Slowly she pulled herself to her feet, dusting herself down as she did. Now she had two ghosts on her hands and she still had no idea why one of them was coming to her in the shadows or who this murderer was, how was she supposed to catch a killer?

She could have dwelled in her own thoughts all day but was saved when Andrea came into the shop all happy and smiley carrying the usual Village Java containers in hand.

"Good afternoon boss, how are we today?" Andrea asked chirpily as she handed the short brunette one of the containers.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, great, wonderful." Mel replied as she realised what the question was.

"Hmmmm okay, you're hair looks great by the way, did you do something new?" Andrea asked inquisitively.

"No exactly the opposite actually, this is what it looks like if I fail to do anything to it and leave it to dry, thanks though." Mel replied.

"Man am I jealous, so you and Jim, how did it go?" Andrea asked, Mel had known it was coming but still rolled her eyes.

"Yeah Jim's still great and last night was, well great." Mel replied not really wanting to go into any more detail than that.

"Okay fine I won't pry, I can see that you're not in the mood but if all is okay with Jim then what's up?" Andrea asked, she knew Mel better than most people.

"Seriously everyone seems to be able to read me like a book these days." Mel answered coyly trying to avoid the question.

"Mel what is it?" Andrea persisted.

"Nothing, well I don't know, there is this ghost it showed up last night and then again just before you arrived but I haven't seen it, then there is another ghost too, the one I followed into the woods. I know that they are connected but I don't know how to help them, I don't even know if I should." Mel replied a little confused.

"Why, what makes you think you can't help them?" Andrea asked sweetly.

"Because, because they want me to catch a murderer." Mel said coldly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay that's it for this chapter, if you managed to get to the end well done lol, hopefully the next one will be up sooner.


	13. Chapter 13 Night terrors

Hi everyone, I did mean to update sooner but exam season has started now, I will try my best to keep updating frequently but you know how it goes, writers block and the inevitable distractions that life brings.... I hope that you enjoy this chapter too and will continue to review like you have been doing, it's so great! My new story should be up withing the next few days depending on how much I get done! Enjoy :-)

Chapter 13 Night terrors 

Melinda had arrived back at her apartment after a long day at the shop, it was supposed to have been an easy task, talk to the dealers, make them interested in what the shop had to offer and secure a few healthy investments but of course it failed to go according to plan.

Andrea had done most of the leg work and convinced one rather pompous man to supply the store with antiques to sell once every few months, and a young British man bought a few items from the store but Mel couldn't say what they were, she was too distracted by the damn vision. How was she going to help them, was she really going to have to go after a murderer.

Placing her bag down on the floor Mel pattered along to the kitchen, she hadn't had anything to eat since the pancakes Jim made her for breakfast and was beginning to develop hunger pains. Mel wasn't known for being an accomplished cook, in fact she was what could only be described as damn awful and so she needed to find something that required as little skill as possible to make. Eventually she settled on a sandwich and hoped that it would do the trick.

Later that evening Mel began to miss Jim more than she thought possible, he had to work the night that she discovered she was been haunted by more than one ghost, the night when she discovered that she might have to go after a murderer, who was going to stop her running out into the night to find him?

She sat at her desk staring at the laptop her eyes itching from sheer exhaustion but she had to find out something. Since Mel had fallen in the woods she was pretty confident that the body had been found but to Mel's knowledge no news reports had been made the next day or in the following weeks, surely if the girl had died then it would have been on the local news and Mel would have seen it, hell the media would have had a field day, in Grandview there isn't much exciting to report on.

The searching wasn't going too well, the fact was Melinda didn't really have much to go on, she knew that the girls had been murdered on separate occasions and she knew that one of the murders had been recent, she didn't know the victims names, where they came from or if they were related or knew each other in any way and in the end she decided that the best thing for her would be to try to sleep, that is what Jim would have told her to do had he been present.

It was 2am now and Melinda had only been sleeping half an hour when something caused her to stir in her sleep. She began to toss and turn as visions of a young girl been beaten haunted her dreams, and those eyes, the eyes of the girl down the hill crept in her mind and lingered there as if the image had been permanently imprinted on the inside of her eye lids.

"Nooo!" Mel screamed as she sat up from her dream, her breathing heavy and beads of sweat dripping from her forehead but the fear wasn't over, standing in front of her were the two ghosts from the accident and there was something off about them.

Mel shut her eyes tightly as if she was willing them away but when she opened them the ghosts were still there staring deep into her eyes.

"What do you want?" Mel asked a little frightened.

"We need your help to catch him. You have to catch him before it's too late, he'll come for you...." The girl said and then disappeared.

The other ghost lingered behind for a few moments, there was an eerie silence and then suddenly she too dispersed , the image of terror in her pale blue eyes lingering in the room long after she was gone.

Melinda then realised that the reason that the ghost had disappeared was due to the dull ringing of the phone in the background tentatively Mel leant across the bed and picked up the receiver.

"Hello." She said wearily, her throat a little hoarse due to her sudden awakening.

"Hi Mel it's me, sorry did I wake you?" Asked the voice on the other end of the phone, it was Jim, _her_ Jim, and she couldn't have been more happy to hear his voice.

"No, no god I miss you." Mel said sweetly, truthfully.

"I miss you too but what's up, there is something wrong I can tell." Jim replied concerned as always.

"Nothing, it's nothing I just had a bad dream I'm fine but I really do miss you." She said being as honest as she felt appropriate.

"I'll come and see you tomorrow at the shop, my shift finishes in 10 minutes so I won't need to sleep in too much." Jim replied.

"You could come back here, that way you wouldn't have to drive as far and I wouldn't have to worry about you." Mel said sweetly, she would worry about Jim but really she just wanted him to be there, to make her feel safe.

"Okay honey I'll come over as soon as I'm done here." He said lovingly, he could read her like a book and knew that whatever she saw in that dream had scared the crap out of her.

"See you soon Jim, I love you." She said longingly down the phone.

"I love you too, gotta go babe otherwise I'll never get home to you." He replied then hung up the phone.

Mel held the phone to her ear a few moments after Jim had gone, she knew that she wasn't going to hear his voice on the line but it lingered there just in case, that was until the incessant beeping of the dial tone made her put the receiver down.

Melinda climbed out of bed knowing that there was no way she was going back to sleep without Jim, plus he didn't have a key so she needed to be up to let him in, maybe she should give him a key or was it too soon for that?

The ghost whisperer slipped on her slippers then plodded to the bathroom, she was tired and scared, no time for elegance here. When she arrived in the bathroom she stood in front of the mirror, her pale and drawn face staring back at her, haunting and terribly unattractive.

"Oh gosh." She said aloud as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror barely recognising the face staring back at her.

She decided that rinsing her face with cold water might help, at the least it would keep her awake until Jim arrived, keep her from the loneliness and nightmares that plagued her sleep so often before Jim had come around. Once she reached the living room she turned the television on and started to watch the images flicker across the screen, time seemed to fly by and within what seemed like a matter of seconds someone was knocking on the door.

"Hello." Mel called through the wooden door as she stopped outside of it.

"Mel it's me." Jim called back, she recognised his voice instantly and began unlocking the door.

"Hey honey." He said and wrapped his arms around her as soon as the door was opened, his paramedic bag dropping at their feet.

"How was work?" Mel asked trying to distract his attention from her drawn features, she knew he would worry.

"Work was..... well it was work Mel, what about you, are you okay?" He asked concerned, when he had called earlier she had sounded terrified and he had a feeling that there was more to the situation than just a bad dream.

"I'm fine now that you're here." She replied sweetly.

"Honey you look exhausted." Jim said noticing how pale she looked.

"Jim I'm okay." She insisted again but truth be told she was exhausted and slightly dizzy due to her lack of sleep.

"Come on let's go to bed." Jim motioned and guided Melinda to the bedroom.

Jim changed and climbed into bed by her side turning his body so he was facing her. He stroked her hair gently and looked deeply into her soft, brown eyes.

"What did you dream about?" He asked intricately.

"The girl in the woods, I think she died, they were murdered and now they want me to catch the killer." She replied quietly her inhibitions showing in her voice.

"Mel it's too dangerous." Jim stated matter of factly.

"I know but I have to try, Jim they told me he was coming for me too." Mel replied quietly, he voice fading into tears.

"I'm not going to let that happen." Jim replied and cradled her in his arms, why couldn't anything be simple, all he wanted to do was take his girlfriend out to dinner, romance her, spend time with her and maybe move in together.

It had only been 5 weeks and already the ghosts were intervening and hated how they tore her apart.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sorry it was a bit dull but it's all building up to the main event, there will be more fluff and more ghosty business soon plus there is obviously a proposal and a wedding to come, keep reading!


	14. Chapter 14 Attention to detail

Sorry it's been a while, I recently started a new story and have been working on building that up for a bit but I will try to keep updating both frequently, it should get faster now my exams are finally over! Hope you enjoy :-)

Chapter 14 Attention to detail

It had been a couple of weeks since the nightmare and Jim had managed to convince Mel to leave the murder hunting for the professionals. The ghosts hadn't appeared to her the whole time and she was starting to feel a whole lot better about the situation.

"Jim I can't believe the shop officially opens today." Mel said excitedly.

"I'm so proud of you and Andrea for getting it all set up so soon and I must say it looks amazing." Jim replied lovingly.

"Well thanks but that was mostly Andrea, she's great with that kind of thing." Mel said modestly, she did help too.

"Right well I better get going, I'll see you tonight." She added.

"Yup see you tonight, love you." Jim answered then gave her a goodbye kiss before she drove off for her first official day at the shop.

Over the last few weeks a lot had changed, Mel and Jim had moved into their own apartment, putting their funds together to get one just outside of Grandview. The shop was opening and Jim was planning something he just needed to wait for the right time to surprise Melinda. Things were going great.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melinda arrived at the shop with a huge smile on her face, this was definitely the happiest she had been in months and she wasn't about to let anything put a downer on the situation.

She pulled the keys out of her bag and unlocked the door to 'Same as it never was' taking in the fresh scent of the store as she walked in. She looked around at the perfectly arranged shop and felt proud of what they had accomplished, everything was so perfect, just how she had imagined it when first setting up the store.

Melinda hung her coat round back and started to load up the cash register, not long after Mel had finished the shop door rang and Andrea strolled in with the same happy expression that Melinda had been wearing earlier.

"I can't believe it's actually here." Andrea said excitedly to her friend.

"I know and everything looks so amazing, do you think we will get any business?" Melinda asked nervously.

"Of course! There have been people walking passed intrigued for the last 3 weeks, someone will definitely come in." Andrea exclaimed, she was ever the optimist.

Melinda smiled at her friend's enthusiasm then the pair shared a hug before switching the sign on the door from closed to open.

"Bring on the customers." Mel said quietly.

Meanwhile Jim was at the paramedic station about to start his shift but his thoughts were completely elsewhere. He had arranged to meet Andrea for lunch so they could discuss Melinda's big surprise but he had forgotten that it would probably look suspicious, they needed to figure out a way of meeting without Mel suspecting anything out of the ordinary was going on.

"Dude what's up with you, you look like you just saw a ghost or something." Bobby said when he noticed Jim's uneasiness.

"I need to figure out a way to meet up with my girlfriend's best friend without her finding out." Jim replied not realising how it had sounded.

"Oh it's like that is it?" Bobby laughed boyishly.

"What, oh god no I just need Andrea's help planning a surprise for Mel and I just think it might look suspicious if I go over to the store and meet Andrea for lunch and not Melinda." Jim answered still a little puzzled by his dilemma.

"How about I go over there, pretend like I was fixing something up for Andrea and get her to come with me, then you guys can meet up with Mel none the wiser, you could even call her and let her know you have an errand to run so you won't be meeting her for lunch." Bobby said rationally.

Jim pondered the proposal for a moment and then nodded his head. "Alright it sounds like a plan but if it fails-"

"If it fails it's my fault?" Bobby chuckled before Jim had a chance to finish the statement.

"Something like that yeah." Jim answered.

"Well then we better do this right hadn't we." Bobby joked.

Jim playfully wacked Bobby on the back and then they went about their plan, Jim went to call Melinda and Bobby prepared himself for the upcoming plan.

X x x x X

Melinda and Andrea had been busy for the last couple of hours and it was only now, at 1:30 that the customers had finally stopped flooding in so the pair decided to take advantage of the lull and close shop for a quick half hour break.

Just as Andrea and Melinda had sat down Bobby came sauntering into the shop,

"Hey Bobby, we're closed you know." Mel said sweetly.

"Yeah I know, I was looking for Andrea actually." He replied shifting his gaze to the right of Melinda where Andrea stood.

She knew exactly why Bobby was really here but she had to play it cool and go along with whatever excuse came out.

"I was fixing your floor and I found some things under the floor boards that I don't know what to do with, would you mind coming to take a look, that is if you girls aren't busy." Bobby said.

"Oh erm, sure although I don't know how much help I'll be. Mel you don't mid do you?" Andrea replied.

"No, no go on but don't be too long I think I might die if I have to run this place by myself for more than 10 minutes." Mel joked.

"I'll be back soon I promise, go and get some food though." Andrea said and then she and Bobby made their way out the door and in the direction of her apartment where Jim would be waiting outside.

Melinda stayed sat down for a little while looking slightly bemused. Jim had called her earlier to say that he couldn't meet for lunch and now Andrea had gone too, leaving her with nothing to do. She couldn't re-open the store because, quite frankly it was too much to manage on her own, who would have though a little antique shop would achieve so much interest on its first day, Melinda certainly hadn't thought it would.

She ran her hands through her long, wavy hair and stood up from her chair feeling slightly dizzy as she did so. It was then that Melinda realised she was no longer alone in the store, to her right stood the two ghosts who had become all too familiar with Melinda over the past 2 months but why were they here now, why did they wait so long before appearing again?

"What do you want?" "Who are you?" Melinda asked as she placed a hand on the counter to steady her balance.

"My name is Carrie." The ghost Melinda had seen all that time ago in the woods replied. She had a beautiful mane of blond hair that flowed all the way down her back and Melinda could now see that she was just a teenage girl.

"Carrie what do you want, I can't help you if you keep making me feel dizzy and wont tell me anything. Who is your friend?" Melinda asked addressing the ghost that seemed to be hiding herself in the shadows.

"The man that got me, he got her too and now she won't come out because she knows he will come back. _She thinks he can see her_." Carrie replied as she twisted a strand of her hair around her middle finger.

"Do you know her name?" Melinda asked now feeling a little more nauseous, it wasn't Carrie that was making Melinda feel ill it was the other ghost, the one she had fallen next to in the woods.

Carrie shook her head and then looked straight into Melinda's eyes with a hardened expression.

"The police won't be able to catch him before he strikes again, not unless you help them." Carrie said seriously.

"Okay but you need to tell me everything you know." Melinda replied.

Carrie and Melinda continued to talk about this mystery man, Melinda writing down every detail Carrie divulged carefully so she would have something to take to the police. She had no idea how she was going to explain how she received the information or where she got it from, but she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it.

The two of them continued to chat until Andrea came back into the store smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey Andrea, you look.... happy." Mel said a little confused by the beaming smile on her friends face, she only went to look at something under the floorboards.

"Yeah well you look confused." Andrea replied with humour.

"Oh shush you know this is my normal face, did you find anything good under the floor then?" Mel asked.

"Under the floor... Oh erm just some random photos and stuff, they we're mine so they must have belonged to the old tenants." Andrea replied, she almost forgot about that part of the story.

"Did you get some lunch?" Andrea asked but before Mel had a chance to lie and claim she did eat her stomach let out a huge grumble.

"Erm... no I got distracted." Mel replied sheepishly.

"Okay well you go over to Village Java and get something and I'll open up, just don't be too long." Andrea said sweetly.

"Thanks Andrea." Mel smiled then walked over to Village Java to get something to eat.

She had no idea that Jim had planned something very special for her when she returned home and she had no idea how she was going to go about relaying the information to the police, but she was going to have to do it, and with Jim's help.

X x x x X

Sorry it took ages for me to update, I tried to make it longer but I kinda had writers block. I am working on updating the other story and moving this one along too so that is why I jumped forward in time a little. Please let me know what you think and sorry for the wait.


	15. Chapter 15 A dramatic proposal

Sorry it has been a while it seems everyone has writers block or something lol plus I have started on a project of my own using my own characters which has been challenging..... Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and I am going to try and keep the updates frequent but I can't promise. I did make this one longer to make up for my absence. Thank you for all the great reviews, you lot keep me going.

Chapter 15 A dramatic proposal

It was closing time at the store and Melinda was becoming very nervous, Jim would be waiting and she was stuck dealing with an awkward customer. Mel had tried everything but he just wouldn't leave, he wanted a stupid candle which was fair enough but there were only 3 to chose from and he had already been in the store 10 minutes.

"Sir that one is very nice." Mel said for what seemed like the billionth time in the past 10 minutes.

Andrea stood in the corner and laughed a little at the look on her bosses face, she was well aware that Melinda wanted to get home to Jim but wasn't about to step in to help, this was all part of the plan and it was going perfectly so far.

"You know we are closed now?" Mel said sternly phrasing the sentence as a half question just in case the man was unaware.

The man seemed to completely ignore Melinda and continue browsing at the candles, picking each one up individually and examining it as if he were holding some fine stone.

Mel looked across at Andrea and rolled her eyes in her direction, she tried to mime something to her but Andrea pretended not to have a clue what Mel was talking about, she needed to buy Jim as much time as possible and this was entertaining.

Melinda started tapping her foot impatiently and then walked closer to the man leaning into him with a forced smile.

"Have you decided yet?" She asked with forced politeness.

The man looked at his watch, and then back at Melinda shaking his head, "You know I don't think that I will buy a candle after all, I mean what do I need a candle for?" He said light heartedly.

Melinda almost exploded with rage but she managed to keep her cool and smiled another forced smile at him, it was almost sickening but who could blame her really.

"Okay then sir, come back again soon." Melinda said through gritted teeth and then walked behind him until he left the store.

As soon as he was outside Melinda switched the sign on the door to shut and retrieved her red coat from the back.

"You know you could have been a little more helpful with the customer Andrea." Mel called from the back room.

"I know but it was just so funny, I haven't seen you pull a face like that in so long." Andrea replied with a little laugh.

"Alright." Mel chuckled and playfully tapped Andrea on the shoulder pretending to be offended by her comment.

"Well I better be getting home, Jim will wonder where I've got to and you know how he gets when he worries." Mel said as she turned to the door.

"Okay boss I'll lock up and see you tomorrow." Andrea added with a bright smile.

Melinda smiled back and then started the drive home. Andrea waited for her friend to drive around the corner before she opened her cell and dialled Jim's number.

"Hey Jim she's on her, Tim held her up as long as he could but you now Mel she got a little.... impatient." Andrea said with a giggle.

"_Thanks for the heads up, I'm almost done." _He replied down the phone.

"Bye Jim." Andrea said.

"Bye Drea." He replied and then hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. He ran over to the kitchen to make sure that the food wasn't burning and then returned to the living area to wait for his girlfriend to return home.

X x x x X

Mel bounded through the door sounding flustered even before she started to speak.

"Hey Jim sorry I'm late, awkward customer that wouldn't leave." Mel called as she set her jacket down and looked around the living room for any sign of Jim.

She could see his paramedic jacket set on the other end of the sofa and the smell coming from the kitchen led her to believe that he was definitely in the apartment somewhere.

"Something smells good." She said as she made her way through to the kitchen in search of Jim.

When she entered the room she saw Jim standing at the stove stirring something, he had is back to her so Mel decided that she would surprise him. She walked slowly over to where he was standing and was about to place her arms around his waist when he turned and grabbed her first.

"Nice try Mel." He said with a slight chuckle.

"How did you now I was here, I was so quiet this time?" She said seriously.

"Ah but I have a sixth sense, I can smell your perfume a mile off." He joked lovingly.

Mel smiled back and peered into the pot to see what was for dinner, it was late and she was actually pretty hungry.

"What are you making?" She asked as she tried to get a glance but was held back by Jim.

"It's a surprise now you go and sit down in the living room, put your feet up and I'll call you when I'm done." He replied intent on keeping his food a secret until it was time to eat.

"You and your surprises." Mel said as she rolled her eyes causing Jim to flash a smile in her direction.

Mel spun around and glided off to the living room as instructed, Jim watched her all the way out the room before continuing his cooking. Jim came to join her after about 5 minutes, the food needed to be left for 10 minutes so he decided that he would spend those 10 minutes with his wife.

"So how was work, see any spirits?" He asked causally.

"Nope no ghosts, come to think of it I haven't really seen any ghosts in a while, I mean I've seen them about but none have seemed to need my help." She replied sounded slightly confused and what Jim took to be a little disappointed.

"Hmmm, may be they are finally giving you a break." Jim said sweetly placing an arm around her waist.

Mel took in a large breath and let it out before replying.

"I dunno- It's just I wonder what happened to Carrie, she said she needed my help, that someone else was next and I haven't seen her in nearly 3 weeks, it doesn't make sense." She said perplexed.

Jim stared into Mel's eyes lovingly, he couldn't answer any of the questions she was asking but he could do everything in his power to make her forget and that was his plan. He placed a soft kiss on Melinda's forehead and helped her off the sofa she was perched on.

"Come with me." He whispered into her ear as he slowly led her to the kitchen.

Melinda smiled sweetly at Jim and allowed him to guide her in any direction he pleased, incidentally she ended up at the kitchen table blindfolded and blissfully unaware of what Jim was planning next. Once everything was in order Jim asked Melinda to remove her blindfold and then looked directly at her to gage her reaction.

On the table in front of her was a large vase of red roses, a dozen to be exact. Next to the roses was a very well presented dish, one of Jim's specialities and even though Melinda didn't know what was in it, she knew that it tasted good.

"Wow Jim you bought me roses, they're wonderful." She said as she inhaled their beautiful scent.

Jim suddenly looked nervous and Melinda had no idea why, it was just dinner and flowers and Jim had been known to cook for his girlfriend on occasion, it was something he loved doing.

"I'm glad you like the flowers Mel but there is something else." He said and Mel could see him shuffling his feet like a small child.

"Jim what's wrong." Mel asked genuinely concerned that something was going wrong in his head.

"Okay Mel I wanted to do this right and I had no idea how to do it, I mean I've never done this before and you're so perfect and I wanted to take you on a moonlit walk but it's raining and the restaurant was full and..." Jim was about to continue but was cut off by Melinda's mouth making contact with his, he had no idea she had even walked over to him.

"Shhh Jim, whatever it is it can't be that bad, or exhausting I almost keeled over listening to you." She joked lovingly.

Jim eased up a little and stepped back, he slowly bent down on one knee and fished a small red box out of his jacket pocket. Melinda just stared at him in shock and awe, she really hadn't been expecting this.

"Melinda Gordon, I love you more than anything in my life, you are my sun, my moon, my earth, the centre of my universe and I don't want to spend a minute of my life without you. You walked into my life and gave me a new meaning to love, will marry me?" He asked, his voice was so sincere, so soft and loving. His eyes were like perfect blue crystals staring up and her and her head was blank.

Mel couldn't help but smile a beaming smile, it was like a reflex, her eyes filled with tears and she slowly nodded her head.

"_Yes, of course I'll marry you._" She choked between her tears, she had never been so happy in her whole life.

"I love you so much Jim." She replied and the threw herself at him kissing him like they were never going to see each other again.

When they broke apart gasping for air Jim took Melinda's left hand and slid the ring onto her slender finger. It was a beautiful white-gold band with small diamonds encrusted into it, in the middle Jim had inscribed the word '_forever'_ on the band and Melinda swore that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Jim was going to take it back, it wasn't fancy, there was no big ass diamond or ruby cluster in the middle but Melinda loved it, it was perfect, simple and yet symbolic.

She was definitely going to remember this night for the rest of her life, and now the pair had a wedding to plan.

X x x x X

Sorry again that it too soooooo long I apologize greatly and I will try my best to update sooner, I hope the chapter made sense, I wrote it in breaks.....


	16. Chapter 16 Road trip

No you didn't imagine it, I finally updated :O 

So I know it's taken a super long time for me to get this chapter up, and I would go into detail and tell you why but I don't want to bore you anymore. I have started a twilight story which some of you may have read and if so thank you :) This chapter was kind of inspired by a episode of season 4- the one where Mel and Jim/Sam go on a road trip when he goes to find Nikki!! P.S. thanks for all the reviews even though I have been rubbish at updating.

Chapter 16 Road trip.

The next morning Melinda awoke with a whole mix of feelings in her stomach. She was now engaged to the most wonderful man she had ever met which was amazing but there was so much they hadn't done. She hadn't met his mom, which could be problematic if they didn't get on. Then there was Melinda's mother who would almost definitely have something to say about Jim and the speed at which she had gotten engaged to him and then there was the ghost business. Sure Jim knew about the gift but she knew her mother was not going to take any of it lightly. This was not going to go well.

Jim still slept soundly whilst Melinda got herself into a mini panic over meeting the parents, mainly her mother's reaction then Carrie appeared to her.

"_I was beginning to think you'd crossed over._" Mel whispered when she saw the familiar ghost.

"Not happening until he gets put in prison, he's got another girl, I tried to stop him but I'm dead and throwing objects really doesn't seem to be doing anything." Carrie said seriously.

"_Look I can't just go to the police and tell them that a killer is on the loose, he's kidnapped a girl. They'll ask me where I got my information and I can't exactly tell them that my dead friend told me."_ Mel replied, still speaking quietly so she didn't wake Jim.

"I know and for the moment you don't need to go anywhere near a police station, I know where he's keeping her but It's a long drive. I have an idea though." Carrie said hopefully.

"What?" Mel asked rolling her eyes. This time she forgot to whisper and Jim did stir.

"A road trip, you could get some antiques for your store, there is this guy selling a whole garage of stuff at a good price. You can rescue the girl, call the police and visit your mom too." Carrie exclaimed, she had definitely thought this through and yet Melinda knew in the back of her mind that the whole thing was dangerous.

"A road trip." Mel said aloud as if to confirm the idea in her mind.

Carrie nodded and Jim lifted up his head and gave Melinda a very confused look.

"Mel who- Did you just say road trip?" He asked changing his question half way through knowing she was talking to a ghost.

"Erm yeah I guess I did." She replied giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"So you'll do it?" Carrie asked pleadingly.

Melinda sighed, Jim smiled and Carrie looked at Melinda with puppy dog eyes.

"Jim I think we're going on a road trip, and then you can meet my mother." She said glumly. Carrie disappeared and Mel headed to the laptop to sort everything out for the trip. If they wanted to catch the guy it was going to have to be tomorrow.

"Wait why are we suddenly going on a road trip and what about the store?" Jim asked as Melinda started typing frantically on her laptop and clicking her mouse.

"I'll tell you when we get there and don't worry about the store, call Andrea and get her to cover for a few days I'm sure she won't mind now just give me a moment, I'm about to get us a truck." She replied hoping that the task of calling Andrea would stop him from asking any questions about the road trip, she did not want to tell him about the killer just yet.

Jim opened his mouth to reply but then just shook his head and smiled. He gave Mel a peck on her forehead and went to call Andrea whilst Melinda worked her magic. They were going to have to leave tonight if they wanted to get to the sale by tomorrow afternoon.

"Okay all we have to do now is pick up the truck and then we're all set." Mel said as she clicked one final time and closed the lid of her laptop.

"We're leaving tonight then?" Jim asked a little bewildered by the whole situation.

"Yup, I'm going to pack a few things up can you get directions to the sale, and then we can sort out driving arrangements." She chirped then pecked Jim on the cheek before running up stairs to pack the bags. Jim wasn't really sure what the hell was going on but he did as asked and before they knew it, it was time to go and pick up the truck.

The couple drove in Mel's Jeep to collect the huge removal van and then split up to drive both vehicles back home. They parked the Jeep safely in the driveway and then loaded their things into the back of the van, Melinda kept a small bag in the front with her which was apparently full of surprises for the journey.

Melinda let out a large yawn and Jim took the keys from her almost instantly.

"I'll drive there you get to drive to your mom's since I don't know the way then we'll toss a coin for the last stretch." He said playfully causing Melinda to roll her eyes but she was secretly glad that Jim would be driving first as she was exhausted.

Being the gentleman that he was Jim opened Melinda's door for her and helped her into the van before getting in himself and once they were all buckled up they set off on their first road trip.

The radio was playing quietly in the background as Jim drove on into the night, Melinda wasn't asleep yet and was rifling through the blue bag she had insisted go in the front.

"Mel what are you looking for?" Jim asked, eyes still on the road ahead.

"Just a minute.... aha!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a box of cards.

"Trivia cards, I thought we could play a game since we were stuck driving along a road that doesn't even have enough scenery to play a bad game of I-spy." She joked nervously.

"Okay then how does it work, do you ask me questions randomly or can I pick categories?" Jim asked as he continued to drive along, a smile spread across his face.

"I think I'll just read the cards in order, when It's my turn to drive you can do the same." Mel replied sweetly.

"Alright then Mel, shoot and make sure you keep score so I can bask in the glory of winning." He said smugly.

"Oh really, we'll see about that Clancy." She replied with a huge grin and then proceeded to ask the questions.

A while later and Mel's persistent questioning seemed to deter as her eyelids became heavy and her head began to droop. Jim chuckled to himself when the card that was in her hand fell to the floor and she finally gave in to fatigue, he leaned over and placed a jacket around her shoulders before returning his gaze to the road. They only had a couple more miles to go and they would be at their first stop, a small hotel about a 10 minutes drive from the garage sale. Jim had decided that there was definitely an ulterior motive for this trip, if it was just about antiques there were plenty of other places that they could have gone. He would ask Mel about it in the morning he decided as he pulled the truck into the hotel parking lot and woke up his sleeping beauty.

XxxxX

That's the end of this chapter, no idea when I will next update, uni schedule is mental but you never know lol. Thanks for reading and reviewing even though I have been rubbish x


End file.
